Group attack on guards 'put jail at risk'

Ngawha Prison. Photo / Dean Purcell

A 15-prisoner attack on five guards that left one female officer with a dislocated shoulder and other injuries put the security of the entire prison at risk, says the Corrections Association.

Information about Monday's attack - at Northland's Ngawha Prison near Kaikohe - was tabled in Parliament yesterday by Labour's Corrections spokesman Clayton Cosgrove.

He said the attack occurred because of "double-bunking" in the Kaakaa North Unit, but Corrections Minister Judith Collins said it was sparked by a change in prisoner routines - eating in a shared dining area, rather than individual rooms.

It is understood fighting broke out after one prisoner tried to smuggle food back into his cell.

Mr Cosgrove told the Herald he had internal documents saying that two female officers and one male were hospitalised following the attack on five guards. One female officer suffered a dislocated shoulder and broken ball joint and another had a torn achilles.

Ms Collins said in Parliament it was "unfortunate a number of staff received minor injuries". A Corrections Department spokeswoman confirmed last night police would investigate the matter "as with any serious assault".

Corrections Association president Beven Hanlon said about five minutes passed before 12 to 15 guards came to the aid of those under attack, leaving other parts of the prison largely unmanned.

"The only good thing was that it was spontaneous."

He said an orchestrated assault would have been very difficult to combat with limited staffing and is calling for association members to be armed.

Mr Hanlon said the Kaakaa North prison unit was made up of two blocks of 44 prisoners, each manned by two guards, with one other guard effectively floating in the middle.

He said it took staff about an hour and a half to get prisoners throughout the prison back into their cells, during which time a number of "minor incidents" or "prisoner propping" occurred.

"That's basically where we tell them to get in their cells and they tell us where to go, or taunt us because they know there is nothing we can do."