Barrister holds out hope for prison's refocus

Kelvin Davis

A Northland barrister hopes there will be more of a focus on preventing reoffending following an announcement Corrections will take over the management of Mt Eden prison from Serco.

The decision, announced yesterday, comes after the prison came under scrutiny following the death of Nick Evans, 25, who died in Whangarei Hospital - allegedly as a result of injuries received in prison - and after stories came to light of fight clubs, widespread drug use, under-staffing and extreme violence.

"The safety and security of staff and prisoners is paramount," said Corrections Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga in announcing the takeover.

"Following a new allegation [on Thursday], I am pleased that Corrections chief executive Ray Smith has made the decision that Corrections will take over the running of the facility for the immediate future."

Whangarei barrister Kelly Ellis, who has raised a number of issues about the prison, said the news was "fantastic" and hoped the decision would mean there would be more focus placed on reducing reoffending. "Corrections is part of the State, it's in their best interest to have less crime and fewer prisoners. The goal of Corrections is to reduce reoffending and Serco wasn't going to do that."

Ms Ellis revealed that some of her clients on remand had requested adjournment times for less than two weeks as it increased their chances of being held on remand at Ngawha Prison, near Kaikohe. She also said she would not visit the prison for fears of her safety, but said now that the prison was managed by Corrections she would consider returning.

Labour Corrections spokesman and Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis - who led the charge against Serco with a series of revelations in Parliament - said the decision was an admission that privatising the prison was a big mistake.

"Well, we sort of anticipated this was going to happen/ this is just a massive admission from the Government that private prisons don't work."

Serco had failed to deliver high-quality prison services and taxpayers had been let down by the Government, he said.

"I wonder how much of my tax is going to go to sorting out this mess. I think their contracts were worth $30 million, this is going to be millions more to sort this out."

Mr Davis said he wanted an inquiry into what had happened in Mt Eden prison while it was under Serco management.