The prisoner who died after allegedly being dropped off a landing at Mount Eden may have died from causes unrelated to an assault.

The Prime Minister says there will be serious consequences for Serco if they are found to not be meeting obligations at Mt Eden Correctional Facility.

A former Mt Eden inmate reveals tobacco and drugs are regularly available, and shows David Fisher how they are smuggled in.

Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga denies the takeover indicates a loss of confidence in operator.

$100,000 a year to imprison a person is a lot of money. That's the striking figure at the centre of the current prison scandal and debate.

The High Court has ruled a blanket ban on all prisoners' voting in general elections is an unjustified limit on their right to vote.

Minister says Government team is stepping in to run Mt Eden prison, after private firm rocked by allegations of violence.

The parents of a prison inmate whose death is at the centre of a prison violence scandal are looking to lay a formal complaint with police.

The father of a former inmate at Mt Eden Prison denies claims his son was injured when he fell from a cell block landing.

The Corrections Minister's statements are all well and good but the seriousness of prison claims requires a harder line, writes Toby Manhire.

Faced with a growing backlog in the already overloaded justice system, a frustrated judge has criticised Serco's Mt Eden prison for not doing its job.

The inmate whose death is at the centre of a prison violence scandal is the grandson of a National Party stalwart who died just weeks later.

Serco has been fined $300,000 in the last year for breaching its contract with the Government, the Corrections Minister revealed this afternoon.

Under-fire Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga has hauled in prison operator Serco for an urgent meeting today.

Embattled Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga is defending his handling of the controversial death of a prisoner at a privately-run prison.

Labour MP Kelvin Davis says the Corrections Minister has lost control of his department.

Labour MP Kelvin Davis has claimed that a prisoner who was thought to have died from a superbug had severe injuries that could only have been caused by violent abuse within jail.

The inmate whose death is the subject of multiple inquiries was on the brink of escaping the life which put him behind bars, friends have told the Herald.

Prison officers union says Mt Eden Prison chiefs were told 18 months ago but did "nothing about it".

Ten prison staff have been fired over inappropriate relationships - in some cases sex - with inmates.

“This behaviour of prisoners is unacceptable," said Corrections Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga.

The Corrections Minister has announced a "robust and thorough" review over footage of inmates engaging in banned behaviour in New Zealand prisons.

Footage was reportedly filmed by an inmate at Auckland's Mount Eden prison who then sent it to media.

"They are just locked up and that's that. What about their wellbeing and safety? They are still human beings."

Videos revealing an inmate “fight club” must be investigated independently at once, the Corrections Association president says.

Inmates at an Auckland prison are holding organised fights, filming them on contraband mobile phones and uploading the footage to the internet.

A grandmother-of-seven can finally fill in forms without her daughter's help, thanks to a volunteer literacy programme at the Auckland women's prison.