Inmates sick from synthetic cannabis

Six Canterbury prisoners, including two convicted killers, have needed medical treatment after taking synthetic cannabis behind bars.

Four Christchurch Men’s Prison inmates were hospitalised on Sunday after staff became concerned for their wellbeing while they were in a yard. One was found with a substance thought to be synthetic cannabis.

The previous day, two Rolleston Prison inmates – understood to be convicted murderers Neihana Foster and Matthew Albert Walsh – were found smoking synthetic cannabis in a cell. Health staff assessed and monitored them in an at-risk unit. Foster was involved in another synthetic cannabis incident on Monday and taken to hospital.

Corrections chief custodial officer Neil Beales said the Christchurch Men’s inmates returned to prison later on Sunday. The water in their cells was temporarily turned off to stop them removing, re-ingesting or disposing of any concealed substances.

‘‘All prisoners were kept under constant observation and provided with drinking water on request,’’ Beales said.

Foster, then 26, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1998 for the murder of sportsman Hemi Hutley at a Westport hotel. He and a group of Fourth Reichers dragged Hutley 125 metres over wasteland, stripped him and threw him in the Buller River, where he drowned. Foster is up for parole later this month.

Walsh is serving an 11-year jail term for killing Donald Linwood at a dinner party in Methven in 2004. He stabbed Linwood twice in the back with a skinning knife, kicked him in the head and dragged him into the gutter. Walsh’s parole was declined in May. He will appear before the board again in February.

Beales said Corrections took contraband in prisons ‘‘seriously’’. The inmates would be ‘‘held to account’’. Sanctions could include loss of privileges and cell confinement.

‘‘All drugs are dangerous both to the health-and-safety of prisoners and staff and the secure running of prisons.’’

There have been a series of deaths this year linked to synthetic cannabis in the North Island, mainly in Auckland. According to police, ESR testing often revealed the presence of AMB-Fubinaca – dubbed ‘‘an ultra-potent zombie drug’’.

The number of users presenting at Christchurch Hospital was increasing. Emergency medicine specialist Paul Gee said yesterday new synthetic drugs were being detected in patients, some of which were associated with deaths overseas.

Beales said: ‘‘We are well aware of the significant risks posed by synthetic cannabis and, while there is no evidence of it being a widespread issue in our prisons, we remain vigilant to this harmful substance.’’