Inmate spends the night causing damage perched on Whanganui Prison roof

An investigation is underway after an inmate at Whanganui's Kaitoke Prison scaled a building and spent the night causing damage during the weekend. Photo / Bevan Conley

A prisoner managed to elude staff and climb a building before spending the night causing damage while perched on the roof of Whanganui Prison.

The inmate damaged skylight windows, lighting units, plumbing infrastructure and roofing iron while on top of the building at the facility which is located near Kaitoke, east of Whanganui.

The prison will be carrying out an internal review to better understand how the man gained access to the roof and the incident had been referred to police to consider criminal charges, Department of Corrections acting prison director Graham Dack said.

The drama began on Saturday afternoon when the prisoner was being returned to his unit, at the minimum to high security prison, after spending time in the recreation yard.

"[He] gained access to the roof of a prison building and refused to come down," Dack said.

"Staff responded immediately and the prison was locked down."

Dack said the inmate was well known to guards at the prison and his behaviour had escalated in the days leading up to the incident by damaging a television set in his cell and attempting to assault a staff member.

"Specialist prison negotiators were deployed and spoke with the man in an attempt to get him to climb down."

However, their efforts were in vain and the prisoner refused to budge until 1pm on Sunday when the man climbed down and was secured by staff without further incident, Dack said.

"No staff or other prisoners were injured during this event."

At the same time the inmate accessed the roof, another prisoner smashed a window in his cell but the two incidents were not related.

Dack said a full assessment of the damage was yet to be completed but it was not hampering normal operations at the site.

The prisoner was contained within the secure perimeter of the unit at all times, he said.

"There was no threat to the wider security of the prison and no threat to public safety at any time."

Dack said the inmate would be charged through the prison's internal misconduct system.

In December 2020, more than $25 million in damage was done to Waikato's Waikeria during a six day riot which began with prisoners lighting fires in the courtyard before a group of men gained access to the roof and refused to come down.