Prison smugglers ‘inevitably’ get caught, court hears

A prison guard has been charged with smuggling tobacco into Christchurch Men’s Prison.

The 52-year-old man is accused of bringing in two 50-gram pouches of tobacco for a prisoner, court documents show.

He appeared at the Christchurch District Court yesterday in front of a registrar, who granted him interim name suppression until his next appearance in April.

Prison director Joanne Harrex confirmed a dog detector team found “contraband” on a staff member on Monday.

Police were advised and the staffer was the subject of an “employment process”, she said.

“Our staff work in challenging environments to keep our communities safe and help people make positive changes to their lives.

“We recognise that given the nature of our work, we must uphold the highest standard of conduct.”

The overwhelming majority of the prison’s staff acted with integrity, honesty and professionalism, Harrex said.

“Those who don’t place their colleagues’ safety at risk, damage trust in their profession and undermine the integrity of the prison system. They inevitably get found out.

“When we receive any information suggesting staff are not meeting our standards, we investigate and take the necessary action, including referring information to police if appropriate.”

Harrex declined to comment further, citing the ongoing employment and police investigations.

The man is facing a single charge of breaching the Corrections Act 2004, filed against him the same day as the alleged smuggling.

It carries a maximum period of imprisonment of three months or a $2000 fine.