Emergency services were called to the Auckland District Court on Tuesday after two custody officers were attacked by a prisoner. Photo / Greg Bowker
Emergency services were called to the Auckland District Court on Tuesday after two custody officers were attacked by a prisoner. Photo / Greg Bowker
Two court custody officers were rushed to hospital after being attacked while escorting a prisoner at Auckland District Court.
One officer suffered a fractured jaw while the other was knocked out.
A colleague of the men claims conditions in the cell unit are unsatisfactory; with overcrowded cells, a single toilet and a lack of staff.
Police are investigating a brutal attack on two custody officers at one of Auckland’s busiest district courts; after one officer suffered a broken jaw and the other was knocked out cold.
Emergency services were called to Auckland District Court about 3.15pm on Tuesday after reports of an assault at the courthouse on Albert St in central Auckland.
Police said the officers, who are considered to be police staff, were escorting a 31-year-old man in custody for other matters when the incident happened.
A colleague of the two men described harrowing scenes, as other officers rushed to get through several locked gates to reach the prisoner and two officers being attacked.
“I just heard all this screaming - like someone screaming when they’re getting bashed and attacked. It was a real shrill scream,” he said.
“For us to get there, it was a long time because we have to run from where we are and go through two, three, four gates.
In his opinion: “Those officers are lucky they didn’t die. Someone could’ve died down there.”
The colleague said the prisoner involved had been “stepping people out” in the cell he was being kept in all morning, before he was taken out for his court appearance.
“He punched ... both of them with such force that one - his jaw’s broken. The other ... he KO-ed him. He got knocked out. It could’ve been real bad.”
When the ambulance arrived, paramedics could be heard saying one of the officers had been concussed and the other had suffered a fractured jaw. The officer who was knocked out was revived by paramedics, the witness said.
Emergency services were called to the Auckland District Court on Tuesday after two custody officers were attacked by a prisoner. Photo / NZME
Police confirmed the incident; which happened as the prisoner was being escorted from the courtroom back to custody.
Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin said the man had attacked both staff “without warning”.
“The two staff members endeavoured to restrain the man, but required the assistance of additional staff, who arrived quickly.”
Police said the victims suffered facial injuries and are now recovering at home.
The two injured officers are described as well respected. One of the men recently got married, while the other is described as a young man who works hard.
The colleague claimed that although the attack was unprovoked, other factors were at play that day - including alleged overcrowding in cells and people having to share one toilet.
Claims of unsanitary and ‘tough’ conditions
“The conditions are pretty tough,” he said.
“There’s no air, there are no windows. It’s very unsanitary and there’s something like 12 inmates to a cell down there,” he alleged.
“There are only about six or seven cells and when we were down there that day, there were 55 people who came into those cells - squished into those cells.
“Including the (custody) officers, that would’ve amounted to 60 to 70 people.”
The fact that it had been a long Auckland Anniversary weekend had not helped, he said, claiming that some people had been in custody since the previous Friday.
“It’s such a small space, so they were getting very agitated.”
In his opinion, “there were way too many of them - they were waiting a long time for their court [appearance]”.
Inspector David Hines, of Auckland City Police, said he was not aware of any issues over the long weekend with the court custody unit.
However, he noted that the incident was one of two in the unit that day that occupied custody staff and meant processing times were longer than usual.
“One of those incidents was a serious assault on two custody staff [and] the second involving a person in custody requiring intervention over a medical matter.”
Hines said food was also supplied to those in custody, as normal.
Police said further charges against the 31-year-old prisoner are expected.
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