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A Hawkes Bay prison inmate visited his family instead of taking part in a work programme, while three fellow inmates who finished work early had alcohol at a private house, it was revealed yesterday.
Corrections Department inmate employment area manager Phil Harman said the minimum-security prisoners were placed with a forestry company on the Release to Work programme.
However, an employee of the company failed to take some prisoners directly to or from their job.
"The employee concerned was responsible for transporting prisoners to their place of employment in the employer's work van. The investigation revealed that instead of escorting prisoners back to prison, after finishing work early, the employee escorted the prisoners to a residential address," Mr Harman said.
"At the residential address, the prisoners were supplied with alcohol.
"The investigation also revealed that the employee transported one prisoner to the prisoner's residential home to visit family instead of transporting them to work, like the other prisoners."
The prisoners involved were no longer on the programme and had been returned to the mainstream prison population.
- NZPA
