Two inmates’ rampage at Risdon Prison caused $100,000 in damage

OUT-OF-CONTROL inmates caused more than $100,000 damage during a destructive rampage at Risdon Prison.

OUT-OF-CONTROL inmates caused more than $100,000 damage during a destructive rampage at Risdon Prison.

The outburst came just weeks after one of the men had already caused nearly $30,000 damage in an almost identical incident at the jail.

Erich Leonard Ungerhofer, 20, and Jackson Elijah Yammi Mansfield, 19, appeared in Hobart’s Supreme Court yesterday after both pleading guilty to destroying property.

The court heard how the prison’s Tactical Response Group were forced to fire tear gas and sting grenades on the demolition duo to bring them under control.

The trouble broke out on March 31 when Ungerhofer and Mansfield aggressively threw medicine balls at correctional officers in Risdon’s maximum security Derwent Bravo unit.

A code yellow was activated shutting the unit’s doors.

The offenders began knocking the heads off the fire sprinkler system which saw water fill the unit. They then dragged a fridge and garbage into the amassing pool. Ungerhofer, after mooning other inmates, began spraying the fire hose and Mansfield tried to “surf” in the water.

When the TRG arrived “a large amount of water” was spilling from the unit, Crown prosecutor Luke Ogden said.

Before the strike team could storm the unit Mansfield dropped a fridge off the first floor.

Mr Ogden said the two had come to an agreement to carry out the damage which cost taxpayers $101,255.

Their actions required industrial cleaners to be brought in and the entire prison’s sprinkler system tested.

Earlier the court heard how Ungerhofer, this time acting alone, went berserk in Risdon’s medium security Rosebery Alpha unit a few weeks prior.

Using a broomstick he smashed the heads off the sprinkler system and hit other items.

Mr Ogden said Ungerhofer also took off his clothes and appeared “to dance around the common area” before trying to swim in the water that had built up.

He also made sexually suggestive gestures.

Other inmates were evacuated and rehoused in other areas of the prison.

Ungerhofer took a broken ceramic hand basin and threw it at the prison window, toppled a fridge and smashed other windows.

This went on for about an hour and a half before the TRG entered the unit and detained a “fully” compliant Ungerhofer.

Mr Ogden said about $29,000 damage was incurred.

Lawyer Fabiano Cangelosi asked for the court to order a psychologist’s report to examine whether Ungerhofer’s behavioural issues, caused by pre-existing frontal lone damage, contributed to his offending.

Acting Justice David Porter adjourned the matter until February next year.