Inmate faces charges after climbing on to roof of Rolleston Prison, second incident in six weeks

The incident happened on Sunday at Rolleston Prison in Canterbury. Photo / Google Maps

An inmate at Rolleston Prison in Canterbury scaled his way on to the roof and began damaging the property in an incident that forced the facility into lockdown at the weekend.

The incident happened at 3.40pm yesterday. It is the second such incident at the prison in six weeks.

The prison’s acting general manager Russell Watkins said a prisoner climbed on to the roof of a single-storey, low security unit and began damaging property.

“The prisoner was contained within the secure perimeter of the prison’s unit at all times. There was no threat to the wider security of the prison and no threat to public safety at any time.

“Staff responded immediately to contain the incident and did an excellent job calmly de-escalating the situation. The prisoner voluntarily climbed down off the roof approximately one hour later. There were no injuries to the prisoner or staff.”

Watkins said the prisoner had been relocated. A review of the incident would be carried out and the prisoner charged through an internal misconduct system. The incident had also been referred to police.

In a similar incident on April 18, another prisoner climbed on to the roof of a separate low security unit at Rolleston Prison.

This prisoner was compliant with staff and voluntarily climbed down off the roof. There were no injuries or damage.

“Our role has expanded in recent years as we find ourselves having to manage people with significant behavioural and mental health issues, and our frontline staff work with some of New Zealand’s most complex and challenging people. This can be extremely challenging for our frontline staff who do an incredible job working with people who can behave unpredictably and act without warning.”