Worrying time for jail guards

IN FEBRUARY, desperate prison guards from Townsville Correctional Centre contacted the Bulletin, concerned about overcrowding in the secure unit.

According to sources, an extra 25 beds had been put into the 50- cell block which houses some of the prison’s worst offenders.

“It’s going to be pandemonium,” one guard forewarned.

“We’re worried someone’s going to get hurt.”

Two months hasn’t even passed since that story ran on the front page of this publication and, sadly, their worst fears were realised when a guard was brutally attacked last week.

According to reports, several prison guards were forced to restrain the attacker.

Luckily, the victim has been released from hospital, though returning to work after such a terrifying ordeal would be no mean feat.

In February, the Together Union organiser Norm Jacobsen called for a new correctional centre to be built.

Now the sense of urgency has escalated due to this attack, Mr Jacobsen is now calling for correctional officers to be armed with tear gas and stab- proof vests.

The fact remains, the incident happened in a secure unit that had a 50person capacity but was housing more inmates than it was designed to, with Corrective Services confirming 53 prisoners were in the unit at the time.

Corrective Services says it has additional staff rostered on to help, but guards have ominously told the Bulletin: “It doesn’t matter how many extra staff you put in there, if it’s like that, you’ve got nowhere to go.”

The guards are right to be concerned about their safety and, given their previous grievances appear to have been ignored and one of their colleagues has been coward- punched and bashed, Corrective Services needs to rectify this situation quickly before someone else is hurt.