Jail ‘too full’ to quell escape

Cells in short supply

RISDON Prison authorities were aware of inmates trying to break out of the jail but chose not to intervene, correctional sources say.

The Tasmania Prison Service did not deny the account but rejected suggestions the decision was influenced by a lack of spare capacity in the overcrowded jail.

Last week’s breakout bid won’t go down as the great escape, but it may rank among one of the longest under surveillance.

As the Mercury revealed on Friday, a group of prisoners tried to escape from the medium-security Kara Unit on Tuesday.

It’s believed the inmates were using star pickets smuggled in from a prison garden to chip away at bricks around a window.

The Mercury now understands the breakout bid was first observed by officers early Tuesday night.

But a prison source said authorities chose not to intervene, instead letting it peter out in the early hours of Wednesday when the inmates nodded off.

They said staff requested the Tactical Response Group — which responds to emergencies in the prison — but the request was knocked back by management because there was nowhere to put the wayward inmates.

The Tasmania Prison Service said it did not comment on “security-related procedures”.

“However, we categorically reject any suggestion the decisions made by staff as to how to respond to the issue was in any way related to prison capacity,” a spokesman said.

Prison numbers have steadily increased since 2014.

With more than 600 inmates, the prison system is operating above 91 per cent capacity, the highest it has been in the past decade when compared with figures in the Productivity Commission Report on Government Services.

In September alone, there was a 4 per cent jump, according the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data which showed a daily average of 612 inmates.

Rising tensions, frequent lockdowns and overcrowding have all been blamed on the increase. The number of prisoner complaints has also almost doubled to 343 in the two years to 2016-17.

“Issues with overcrowding and lockdowns may also have contributed to the increase in complaint numbers, with a high proportion of complaints being about placement in the prison and daily routine,” Ombudsman Richard Connock said. The other possible factor was the prison’s smoking ban.

The Ombudsman’s annual report revealed prison authorities formally apologised to an inmate kept in a dry cell without a shower for two nights. A dry cell is used when an inmate is suspected of having internally secreted contraband.

It followed an incident last year in which an inmate was forced to defecate in a plastic bag while detained in the dry cell for four days.