Slain guard wanted prisons career

Spring Hill prison just south of Meremere in Waikato. Photo / NZPA

A prison guard who wanted to spend his entire working life with inmates has been killed on duty after only six months in the job.

Jason Palmer, 33, an officer at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility in Waikato, died after being assaulted by a prisoner on Saturday afternoon.

Corrections Association president Beven Hanlon said Mr Palmer was a rarity, as he aimed to have a long career as a prison guard.

"That's not as common these days. He was willing to stick around, and that's the sort of person we want in the service. He had a good rapport with prisoners but was still one to hold the line ... he didn't take any nonsense."

Mr Palmer was punched by a high-risk inmate he was letting out of a cell on Saturday afternoon.

He suffered irreversible brain damage in the attack and died yesterday at Middlemore Hospital. He was married with two children, aged 5 and 2.

Born in North Carolina, Mr Palmer moved to New Zealand eight years ago. He started work at Spring Hill prison in November.

Corrections Minister Judith Collins said the fatal bashing was the saddest day in the Corrections Department's history. She told the Herald Mr Palmer was the first officer to die from an on-duty assault.

She said his wife had been inconsolable on Saturday when told by doctors in intensive care that her husband's brain would not recover.

"She will go through some terrible times, with two little children. We are calling for as much support for his widow as possible."

Police have launched a homicide inquiry and have moved the assailant to Auckland's maximum security prison at Paremoremo.

He has been charged with assault and is likely to face further charges when he appears in the Hamilton District Court today.

Ms Collins said it was a freakish, split-second attack which the two guards with Mr Palmer could not have prevented.

"The offender was in a single cell, he had three prison officers there to shift him. It sounds as though everything was done by the book.

"The prisoner hit Jason and he just went straight down and hit the ground. It was a very controlled situation but unfortunately there's always that chance."

She said prison staff were angry and upset at themselves for not preventing the attack.

Corrections Association chief executive Barry Matthews said a post mortem examination was being done but Mr Palmer was believed to have died from a combination of the punch and the force of his head hitting the ground.

In January the Corrections Department introduced new safety measures, such as stab-proof vests, pepper spray and de-escalation training, at a cost of $3.6 million; $1 million of that went into Spring Hill prison.

The minister said it was unlikely that further protection would have prevented the assault.

"It looks as if staff have done nothing wrong. The blame here can only lie with the offender."

Howard League for Penal Reform spokeswoman Kathy Dunstall said the prison system had become more repressive in recent years, with overcrowding, extended lockdowns, shortened visits and 70 per cent of parole applications being declined.

She said frustration among prisoners could boil over into violence.