CORRECTIVE Services has denied a weekend of unrest at Bathurst and Kirkconnell jails following allegations of inmates brawling over nicotine patches and another inmate being hospitalised with a broken jaw, nose and cheekbone.
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Shadow minister for corrections, justice, policing and emergency services Guy Zangari said he had received information about a series of problems at Bathurst and Kirkconnell, which included prisoners fighting over nicotine replacement therapy patches.
He said staff at Bathurst Jail were being forced to physically intervene, and after being strip-searched by officers, one inmate was allegedly found with a four-inch shiv.
Mr Zangari said it was just one example of unrest in the system.
He said problems at Kirkconnell over the weekend included the serious assault of an inmate who is now in hospital with a broken jaw, cheekbone and nose.
Mr Zangari said he had been told four inmates had to be segregated as a result of the assault, with reports the harassment of the inmate had been going on for weeks.
However, a spokesperson for NSW Corrections denied the incidents took place in a statement late yesterday.
“At Bathurst, a shiv was found during an inmate search. At Kirkconnell, an inmate was punched once, but did not sustain any fractures,” the statement said.
“Four inmates were segregated for unrelated reasons. These matters were dealt with by well-trained officers using normal procedures.”
However, Mr Zangari said there were problems in jails across the state “week in and week out” and called for Premier Mike Baird to step in.
He said nicotine replacement therapy patches were a high-trading commodity within NSW jails, and while he said the Opposition supported smoking bans within NSW prisons, the nicotine replacement therapy program was a complete failure.
“When new inmates come into the system, they receive a wad of patches to see them through the first couple of weeks,” he said.
“What that does is identify them as a target to other prisoners who have to purchase their patches. Giving new inmates the patches while everyone else has to pay is like putting a target on their back.”
Mr Zangari said the reason patches were so valuable in jails was because inmates were breaking them up, mixing them with tea leaves and smoking them.
He has called for Premier Baird to “find a new minister”.
“David Elliott introduced the policy, and it’s not working,” he said. “It doesn’t stop them smoking, all it does is exacerbate the situation.”
Mr Zangari said overcrowding in the state’s prisons was only making the situation worse.
