By MONIQUE DEVEREUX
A violent inmate placed a dummy in his bed, changed his clothes and walked unnoticed out the front door of the privately run Auckland Central Remand Prison during visiting hours yesterday.
It is the first escape from New Zealand's only private prison, which opened in June and is run by Australasian Correctional Management. Under its contract with the Department of Corrections, the company must pay $50,000 for every escape.
Prison officers noticed that August Lemon (alias August Broughton), of Whangarei, was missing during a muster after visiting time yesterday afternoon.
He had been in the prison for five days waiting for a court hearing on charges of aggravated wounding, receiving and burglary.
Police believe Lemon planned his escape with outside help and probably drove away with a woman who came to visit him.
Last night he was still on the run.
The escape comes as no surprise to two former prison officers, who say they quit because there are not enough staff to make the job safe.
They also claim visiting hours are often monitored by a single officer, making it easy for drugs and clothes to be smuggled in.
Yesterday, management declined to comment on how Lemon walked free or how the new clothing was smuggled past prison officers.
However, the Herald understands that the prison was three staff short of its normal complement yesterday.
Management at the prison directed the Herald to the Department of Corrections, but spokeswoman Alison Welch said it was up to ACM to comment on whether the escape was due to a staffing problem.
The general manager, Terry Easthope, was out of the country until late last night.
The Herald spoke to two former officers from the prison, including one who has written to Corrections Minister Matt Robson. In his letter, the man, who did not want to be named, outlined procedures which he said often left one officer to oversee 40 inmates and 100 visitors.
He said overall staff numbers were also inadequate and unsafe.
"There is a very real question of work safety due to the fact that often the ratio is 32 inmates per one officer, and frankly his or her safety is only dependent on the good will of the inmates present."
The man also said the officers' training was "woefully inadequate and mainly by way of Powerpoint presentations" - a computer-generated slideshow.
He said many staff were incompetent because their knowledge of English was poor and they lacked work experience and skills generally.
Meanwhile, the Corrections Department is investigating the death of 19-year-old Shannon Bevan Leonard, found dead in his cell at neighbouring Mt Eden Prison yesterday morning.
Private jail's first breakout - make that walkout
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