Old Berrimah jail back in action as CLP government gets creative to deal with record prisoner numbers

The old Berrimah jail – more recently the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre – could hold as many as 110 inmates by Christmas, as the CLP Government gets creative amid record numbers of prisoners.

The old Berrimah jail - more recently Don Dale Youth Detention Centre - will house adult prisoners once again as the CLP government gets creative in dealing with the Territory’s record prisoner numbers. Picture: File

Adult prisoners have been moved into the old Don Dale Youth Detention Centre as the Northern Territory Government tries to cope with a record number of inmates.

An unprecedented 2468 prisoners are now in custody in the NT, an increase of 234 inmates since the Country Liberal Party came to power on August 24.

The rising numbers have forced the government to expand its prison infrastructure, including the repurposing of the old Berrimah jail.

The jail was closed in 2014 before it was converted into a youth detention centre.

But it has now been repurposed to again hold adult prisoners, after the youth detainees were last month moved to a new facility at Holtze.

Works are underway to return the old Berrimah jail - more recently the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre - to house adult prisoners. The CLP says the measures are temporary. Picture: Supplied

Sixty-six male prisoners have been moved from police watch houses and the Darwin Correctional Centre to Berrimah over the past two weeks.

“The next phase is in behind that before Christmas, to bring another 50 men in to give us a total of 110 men this year,” Assistant Commissioner Kim McKay said.

Prisoners have been helping tradespeople renovate the facility to house the low and open security inmates.

This has included installing split-system airconditioners and televisions in some cells and building bunk beds to increase capacity.

Corrections Minister Gerard Maley said the jail would hold more than 200 prisoners by next year as he accused the former government of creating a crime and corrections crisis.

“If you’re going to go out in the Territory and do a crime there’s going to be a consequence and the consequences are clear you’ll end up in a place like here in Berrimah,” he said.

Works are underway to return the old Berrimah jail - more recently the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre - to house adult prisoners. The CLP says the measures are temporary. Picture: Supplied

But Mr Maley said the prison was only a short-term fix, promising to close the facility permanently by 2027.

“For a two-year period we’re going to reinvest in this facility, put prisoners in here to make sure the community is safe,” he said.

Community safety is again in the spotlight after a horror run of incidents in Alice Springs including the alleged assault of a two-month-old baby during a home invasion, and the alleged rape of a woman on Saturday night.

Works are underway to return the old Berrimah jail - more recently the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre - to house adult prisoners. The CLP says the measures are temporary. Picture: Supplied

Police have confirmed the two alleged offenders involved in the assault of the mother and baby were well known to police and were on bail at the time of the alleged offending.

After coming to power in August, the Country Liberal Party Government passed new legislation making it more difficult for serious violent offenders to get bail.

But the legislation isn’t due to be enacted until next month, due to a lack of custodial space and shortage of electronic monitoring bracelets.

Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said opening the Berrimah jail could see the bail laws enacted sooner.

“Now we’ve been able to get more capacity online in Darwin we may very well be able to bring bail forward,” she told the ABC.

Originally published as Old Berrimah jail back in action as CLP government gets creative to deal with record prisoner numbers