Prison boss apologises after staff wrongly blocked Arthur Taylor’s Prison Break, Jared Savage’s Gangland books

A prison boss has apologised after workers wrongly blocked inmates from accessing Arthur Taylor’s tell-all memoir Prison Break and Herald journalist Jared Savage’s book Gangland.

Taylor’s book, which he wrote with the help of journalist and author Kelly Dennett, details exploits from his decades of crime, the result of which was more than 150 convictions. Savage’s book explores New Zealand’s underworld of organised crime.

Taylor told the Herald last month a friend of his tried to bring his memoir to her partner in the Otago Correctional Facility but it was not accepted.

“Other copies of my book have gone in without any problems, so is this a recent ban? We don’t know,” he said at the time.

Corrections told the Herald in a statement that the Otago Corrections Facility prison director has determined there were two instances where books were not issued to prisoners at the site due to staff not being aware that the books were approved for distribution within the prison.

“One was a copy of Prison Break and one was a copy of Gangland by Jared Savage.”

The cover of Arthur Taylor's book, which is promoted as recounting his "mistakes, his triumphs, and how he outsmarted prison guards". Photo / Allen & Unwin

Corrections said the director had now asked for the books to be issued to the prisoners with urgency.

“One book remains on site, so this will be released to the prisoner shortly. The other book is off-site with a family member, and they are being contacted to make arrangements for the book to be returned to the prison and issued to the prisoner.”

Taylor, who escaped from prison several times, told the Herald last month he didn’t believe the book would give prisoners any ideas about doing the same as he said all people in prison dream of escaping, so “they’re already there”.

He said there was no reason “whatsoever” to ban the book, which he believed encourages people to break the cycle of offending.

“I’ve had several battles with Corrections on this very subject in the past, and I’ve won every one,” Taylor said.

Jared Savage's book Gangland was banned from prison over concerns it promoted violence and drug use.

In 2022, he successfully made a similar complaint after a prisoner in Auckland was told his copy of the book would not be allowed in.

Taylor also was successful in overturning the “absolute ridiculous” ban on Gangland from prisons. Savage is a senior crime reporter at the Herald.

Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers social issues including sexual assault, workplace misconduct, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.