Riot at Mt Eden
It was heralded at the time as ‘‘the greatest prison riot in the Dominion’s history’’, lasting more than 30 hours. Ruby Macandrew looks back at how the Mt Eden Prison riot of 1965 played out.
In the early hours of July 20, 1965, two prisoners at Auckland’s Mt Eden Prison began an ambitious escape plan which, while unsuccessful, would see the prison left in ruins. The pair, allegedly armed and masked, made their break for freedom at 1.30am, attacking an unlucky warden, S Marchant, in the prison’s east wing, after he refused to hand over keys to the cell block.
He was clubbed to the ground and taken hostage, alongside two other wardens, J Weir and AJ Haynes, who had arrived to investigate the disturbance.
While the names of those behind the plan have remained under wraps for the most part, ‘‘Diamond’’ Jim Shepherd has long been considered one of the ringleaders of the riot. He would later become involved in the Mr Asia drug syndicate.
The captured wardens refused to hand over their keys, prompting threats from the inmates to set fire to the prison. In an Auckland Star newspaper on the day, it was reported that after the wardens continued to refuse to barter, the prisoners set fire to the area of the institution known as ‘‘The Dome’’ — the central hub from which all wings radiate. From there, the prison chapel was also set alight but, in the confusion, the three hostages managed to break away.
As the fires raged, other warders moved down the wings of the prison, releasing inmates from their cells and herding them into an exercise yard.
It wasn’t until 2.30am – an hour into the riot – that police and the fire brigade were called in. By the time they arrived, the blaze had ‘‘a firm hold in the ceilings and gradually spread through all wings of the prison’’.
The New Zealand Army was also asked to stand by and help guard the prisoners.
The Auckland Star report described the prison from the air as looking like a ‘‘besieged medieval castle’’, with police, firefighters and onlookers grouped around the walls and in the courtyards. It detailed the huge pall of smoke, which concealed half the buildings.
The army quickly mobilised 120 gunners and Special Air Service (SAS) troopers on the order of the chief of staff for the Northern Military District, Lieutenant-Colonel IR Diggle, while a 30-man group was immediately moved to the prison under the command of Major JA Mace. Its troops were armed with rifles and side-arms, with ammunition readily available. The army’s role was described to media at the time as a way ‘‘to contain the prisoners within the prison boundaries’’.
As the chaos raged on, a second platoon was moved to the jail about 10am, with the others put on immediate standby. By mid-morning, the arsonists had destroyed the chapel and central administration block as well as several of the prison wings.
While armed soldiers reinforced a massive police cordon around the facility’s perimeter, firefighters tried to bring the flames under control. But as fast as they were able to quell a fire pocket, rioting prisoners set other fires.
Mt Eden Prison’s superintendent, EG Buckley, said at the time, that all the prisoners except those in the east wing were unlocked from their cells by staff when they saw the fires were going beyond control.
‘‘The prisoners mostly made their way to the main exercise yard of the prison, where they were safe from any fire danger,’’ he said.
From reports, it seemed there was a constant movement of prisoners wandering between the jailyard and the abandoned wings. By midday, the fires had been subdued in all but the roofs of the north and east wings. Several inmates, who allegedly didn’t want any part of the rioting, turned themselves over to police and prison officials as the blaze raged.
According to news reports on the day, it was a lack of food, fuel and shelter which led to the rioters surrendering at 10.45am on July 21 – 33 hours after the incident began. By then, the old, overcrowded jail was a blackened shell. Basements, storerooms, the chapel, kitchen, watch house, and more than 60 cells had been destroyed. While none of the 293 prisoners escaped, ultimately, as a result of the riot, the first maximumsecurity prison at Paremoremo was commissioned.