Prisoners to share cells

Prison officers have done a deal with the Government which they say will remove the need to house overflow prisoners in court and police cells in the next six months.

The deal provides for 190 extra beds in prisons immediately and a further 100 by the end of February.

But the extra beds will mean doubling up with two prisoners in a cell, breaching a United Nations rule that prisoners should be in separate cells.

Howard League president Peter Williams QC said conditions in police and court cells were "dreadful", but doubling up was also dangerous and unhealthy.

"There are unfortunately a lot of people in prisons with mental problems," he said. "For a person to be locked up with someone with a mental problem could be a horrifying and shocking experience for both."

Corrections Association president Beven Hanlon said the association had agreed to the extra beds on condition that they went into blocks where the numbers would be manageable and where there had not been recent incidents of violence.

"We are not going to increase the prison capacity if we have trouble at that prison. They have given an undertaking that that won't happen. The issue is not about money. It's about us feeling we are safe."

He said some prisons were still waiting for new bunks, but in principle there would now be no need to use police or court cells at least until June. Beyond that, rising prisoner numbers may again stretch the jails.

Police and court cells have been used for the past two years as prisoner numbers climbed from 6240 in 2003 to 6961 last June and 7472 this week.

The overflow in police and court cells reached 224 last October, when prison managers resorted to holding prisoners in parked vans outside Mt Eden Prison during the day and in Manukau District Court cells at night.

Prisoners had to be transported to prisons every day because there are no showers in court cells.

A Corrections Department spokesman said the numbers in court cells had been cut from 79 in early December to 20 last week and none this week.

Police cells held 152 in December, 119 last week and 40 this week. Some prisoners have always been held in police cells for a night or two before or after court appearances or while waiting for transfers.

As well as doubling up in existing cells, the department has built 153 new cells in existing prisons and will complete a further 270 to 280 new cells by the end of February. In addition, three new prisons are being built to house 286 women in Manukau, 650 men near Meremere and 335 men near Dunedin.

But Mr Williams said it would be better to establish new facilities for low-security-risk offenders such as drunk drivers.

"Some prisoners could be taken out to camps where they could be planting trees and doing work. It costs $60,000 a year to keep a prisoner in a secure prison. If that money was transferred to some other projects, with a bit of imagination I'm sure this thing could be alleviated."