TENSIONS at Bathurst Jail are at an all-time high, according to Shadow Minister for Corrections, Guy Zangari, who says violence in the centre has escalated rapidly in the past week.
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The jail was put in lockdown on Tuesday afternoon amid fears of a riot after an incident involving two inmates, one of whom repeatedly struck a Corrective Services officer in the head.
As the drama unfolded, around 70 inmates in the yards began yelling out abuse, and around 12 of them refused directions to return to their cells. They threatened to start a fire and encouraged other inmates to do the same.
The jail’s Immediate Action Team was brought in, chemical munitions were deployed to contain the situation, and the jail was locked down.
Mr Zangari said on Wednesday the riot followed a week of violence, where there were a spate of assaults in the jail.
“Between Christmas and New Year there were five assaults at the jail in six days, and Tuesday’s riot shows the violence is escalating,” he said.
“Inmates are taking it upon themselves to cause the most damage and the most disruption possible; there have been threats made towards staff and the assaults continue.”
Mr Zangari said this escalating violence is due to rival gangs at the jail trying to assert their authority, and said the only way to quell the situation is for the government to ensure prison officers have the resources to separate rival gang members.
“But the system is such a disaster they can’t do it,” he said .
“It’s no longer a bed crisis, it’s a bed disaster. The government is chasing its tale; it’s scrambling for a solution to fix it, but the situation continues.”
Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner for Custodial Corrections Kevin Corcoran has praised staff for their effective handling of the incident.
“This is top work by the management and staff of Bathurst Correctional Centre who rapidly quelled a volatile situation, which could have turned into a much more serious incident,” Mr Corcoran said.
A spokesperson for Corrective Services said the ring-leaders in the unrest have been transferred to other correctional centres, and the officer who was assaulted in the incident will return to work in the coming days.
Corrective Services NSW, with the assistance of the Security and Intelligence Division, is investigating the incident. Charges by NSW police are a possibility following the investigation.
