Ruling reveals drug problem behind bars

Signs of a significant drug problem at Rimutaka prison in Upper Hutt have been used to back up a decision to pull a drug-using inmate out of a computer course.

The prisoner, Anthony Brian Newton, had to be back at the course this week if he was to have a realistic chance of passing his remaining exams and getting a diploma. His family had paid the fees of $6500.

He had asked a High Court judge to review the decision to revoke his temporary release.

But Justice John Wild's ruling, issued last Friday, said submissions from the prison superintendent and the Corrections Department pointed to a significant drug problem at Rimutaka. The prison was concerned about drug use making prisoners violent or unpredictable.

There was a risk that the public would lose confidence in a penal system that could not contain drug use within prisons.

A June 17 search of the unit in which Newton was housed found a syringe, methamphetamine and cannabis. Ten cells showed signs of drug use, including Newton's.

His permission to attend the Lower Hutt computer course was revoked after two random urine tests were positive for methamphetamine.

Newton's basis for his High Court action was that he had not been given a chance to challenge the test results.

Justice Wild upheld the prison and Corrections Department decisions.

He said Newton pointed to the course as part of his rehabilitation, but the judge asked what the chances were of a successful computer career if Newton continued to use Class A drugs while in prison.

Newton was deported from Australia in 1995 after an 11-year jail term there for drug offences.

Two years later, he was back in prison in New Zealand for importing and supplying class A drugs.

He is due to be freed in February.

- NZPA