Prison staff injured as violent teen leads two-week jail rampage

A teen convicted of “terror-related” offences is one of six juvenile inmates who embarked on a two-week rampage leaving multiple staff in two centres with injuries. Staff are now calling for a “therapeutic” unit to deal with high-risk offenders.

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A teenager convicted of “terror-related offences” is among a group of juvenile criminals who went on a two-week violent rampage that left multiple staff injured, including one with a suspected cracked vertebrae.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal the violence occurred at the two high-risk security units — Frank Baxter and Cobham Juvenile Justice Centre — between December 5 and 17.

The inmate, who is understood to have been placed on the “terror watch list” after scratching extremist comments onto the back of doors, was transferred to Cobham from Baxter after assaulting staff with a chair.

The “unprovoked” outbreak at Cobham, where 12 assaults were recorded, triggered a four hour stop-work meeting on Monday with the sub-branch of the Public Service Association moving a no-confidence motion in Juvenile Justice NSW executive director Melanie Hawyes and state operations manager Steve Southgate for failing to provide staff with a safe working environment.

The teen went on his violent rampage inside Werrington’s Cobham Juvenile Justice Centre.

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One witness said the “terror” teen had been in and out of the system since he was 12 but was placed on the terror watch list after expressing extremist views.

However, most staff believed the teen had mental health issues that required better management, the staffer said.

“He is someone that would benefit from the specialist unit staff are calling for, where he can be removed from the general detainee population and get the help he needs,” the staffer said.

“Staff are concerned that we are not far away from a death of a staff member or detainee.”

The PSA has been demanding the government set up a “therapeutic” unit for high risk offenders to help manager problem detainees.

While Corrections Minister David Elliott is open to the idea, the government has so far shied away from the concept, after the scathing assessment given to the now-defunct Chisholm wing at Cobham.

The union has repeatedly argued the wing was doomed to fail given it was established without consultation with staff.

Corrections Minister David Elliott is open to the idea of a “therapeutic” unit for high-risk offenders.

The assaults at Cobham included detainees punching, kicking and spitting at staff and other detainees.

It is understood one staff member required hospital treatment for a suspected cracked vertebrae.

At Baxter, a staff member trying to separate two detainees embroiled in a fight was bitten deeply on the arm.

Union official Julie Bond blamed the past fortnight of assaults on around “half a dozen” problem detainees.

While the causes of the violence were trivial, assaults escalated over periods such as Christmas period with not all detainees receiving visits from family members.

“Christmas is a bad time for us. Not everyone gets visits,” she said.

“These are kids with serious behavioural problems.

“The only way we can de-escalate a situation is with our voice, but a therapeutic unit would allow us to take these kids out of the general population and have their behaviour addressed.”

A Juvenile Justice NSW spokesman said the department was trialling a new method of managing high-risk detainees to minimise incidents and increase staff safety at its six centres.

As part of this “dispersal method”, detainees regardless of their classification would reside in the centre closest to their community.

“The arrangement will remain in place until Monday January 7, when its effectiveness will be reviewed,” he said.

He said discussions were ongoing with the union on controls in place to manage safety.

As a “high-risk unit”, the union has provided no detail about how this model would work in practice, he said

Originally published as Prison staff injured as violent teen leads two-week jail rampage