Inmate involved in last month’s Holtze riot climbs onto roof to protest being ‘treated like dogs’

One of the prisoners involved in rioting at Holtze Prison last month has climbed onto a building’s roof in protest against the group’s treatment in the wake of the disturbance.

A riot at Holtze Prison last month is being treated as a major criminal investigation.

ONE of the prisoners involved in rioting at Holtze Prison last month has climbed onto a building’s roof in protest against the group’s treatment in the wake of the disturbance.

A former inmate with close ties to the prison said the men were being denied cutlery and had their meals pushed through their cell doors while only being allowed out for an hour a day before the incident happened last week.

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“He got up on the roof and he was just shouting out ‘I’m up here for a reason’ and ‘I’m not doing this for nothing’,” they said.

“They had to get a cherrypicker and get him down.”

The ex-prisoner said the men continued to cause a disturbance throughout the night, shouting “We’re being treated like dogs” and nearby inmates suspected they had again managed to break out.

“They moved them (to other cells) and so I don’t know why they would move them unless they had damaged their cells because they were just booting (the doors) all night,” they said.

An NT Correctional Services spokeswoman confirmed the man had climbed onto the roof on Thursday afternoon, saying guards “used an approved chemical agent to apprehend the prisoner and return him safely to the ground”.

“The incident did not affect social and professional visits to the correctional centre,” she said.

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The spokeswoman said there was a further “disturbance” on Friday night which was “safely defused” but she could not provide any details due to an ongoing police investigation into last month’s riot.

“There was no threat to public safety during the two incidents,” she said.