Home brew fuels prison disturbance

Two prison staff were injured yesterday as they tried to control about 20 inmates drunk on a potent home brew.

Two inmates lashed out while being removed from the compound of unit seven, an 80-bed unit away from the main prison at Mangaroa, west of Hastings, just after lunch. It is not known if any inmates were injured.

Corrections Department Midland regional manager Peter Grant said staff noticed a number of inmates obviously intoxicated and moved to lock them in their cells.

It quickly became obvious that more inmates were affected and more staff were called in to deal with the situation before it got out of hand.

"Some of them were really intoxicated," he said.

A visitor to the prison said at 2pm they were asked to leave as all units were locked down.

"Every available officer made their way down to the unit. They wouldn't say what was going on but they said it was a very serious incident."

The visitor was later told that a "whole heap of guys had got drunk".

Because staff were uncertain what the inmates had taken, the most intoxicated ones were taken to a higher security area until they recovered.

Mr Grant said the inmates had probably been drinking covertly before moving to the compound and drinking openly.

Damage to the unit was understood to be restricted to a broken window.

Parts of the prison were locked down for up to five hours to free staff to deal with the incident.

Although the riot squad was on standby it was not used and the problem was handled using staff trained in control and restraint.

It is understood the home brew was made from a particularly potent form of yeast called "turbo yeast", which has been a problem at the prison, especially over the holiday season.

"This was one brew which staff didn't find in time."

Mr Grant said staff acted quickly and professionally to quell the incident and prevent it spreading. He said the inmates involved would be disciplined.

Unit seven is a minimum to low-medium security mainstream unit.

The event comes in the wake of repeated violence at the prison in recent months.

Overcrowding has been a continual problem as the prison struggles to find space for the constant influx of new inmates.

With a maximum capacity there of 568 remand and sentenced inmates, Napier and Hastings police holding cells have soaked up the overflow, with temporary jailers hired to manage them.

"Double-bunking" had been mooted as a possible short-term solution to the problem until three new men's prisons became progressively available from 2008.

Turbo yeast is a mix of extremely alcohol-tolerant yeast and nutrients that give home brewers more kick for their buck.

It produces about one more litre of alcohol per 100 litres than other yeasts, easily ferments to 17 per cent alcohol and is more tolerant of heat, solids and sugar concentrations.

It produces more alcohol faster, and can be used to ferment sugar, corn, molasses, barley, wheat, potato waste etc.

- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY