Minister demands assurances from Serco

Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga is coming under pressure at Parliament today over when he was warned about allegations that inmates were being dropped from balconies at a privately-run prison.

Asked why the case was not referred to the police in the first instance given the allegations about his injuries, he said it was up to the coroner to first determine the cause of death.

“I feel I must consider taking firmer steps to ensure the safety of prisoners and staff”.

He says he’s taking legal advice and exploring a range of options available to him in Serco’s contract.

He will discuss his next moves with the minister of corrections.

The Chief Inspector of Corrections is also carrying out an investigation, and there will be a review of the clinical assessment the prisoner received when he arrived at Ngawha Prison.

Smuggled videos reveal graphic and violent fighting sessions inside an Auckland jail.

Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga says there’s no guarantee Serco New Zealand will have the second half of its contract renewed to manage Aucklands remand prison, Mt Eden, after putting the company on notice in a meeting with senior …

Serco director of operations Scott McNairn said he had never heard of any incidents like that at the prison.

The Corrections Department has confirmed a prisoner died in hospital in Northland in June.

“In February this year he (Mr McNairn) was reported to have said an inmate thrown off a balcony was hospitalised on February 2 and returned to Serco on February 20”.

Mr Key said that if Mr Davis was claiming that someone was murdered in prison, then he needed to take that to the police.

A guard had seen the fall.

“If Kelvin Davis was alluding to a practice known as “dropping” he did not make it clear that it was widespread, that it was a practice that was ongoing, nor did he refer to it as “dropping”.

“I’m told on good authority that there is a practice in Mt Eden Correctional Facility that is called “dropping”, where… new prisoners… are sized up by gangs, they’re bashed up, and they’re dropped off the balconies onto the concrete below for good measure”.

Both sides are under fire over the state of prisons run by the company, with allegations of fight clubs, drug and alcohol use and “dropping”.