Proud of the team at the Rimutaka Prison Youth Unit:
Acting Prison Manager Paul Rushton and
Assistant Prison Manager Walker Manaena.
A recent incident at the Rimutaka Prison Youth Unit is currently under review, but Acting Prison Manager Paul Rushton says staff involved did a professional job in difficult circumstances.
Around 11am on 26 May staff were forced to contain one section of the youth unit after a group of 13 prisoners took control of part of the unit. The prisoners damaged buildings and gained access to the roof, but at no time was there a threat to public safety as the prisoners were contained inside a secure cordon within the unit.
“The professionalism of staff and the actions they took early on in the incident were great. They made some crucial decisions which helped out tremendously in the later stages of the incident,” said Acting Prison Manager Paul Rushton.
“They were able to contain the incident to one part of the unit, limit damage and secure the prisoners without any serious injuries, either to themselves or prisoners.
“I have absolute faith in the team here and we will continue to look onwards and upwards.”
As with any incident of this type, a review is being carried out by the Corrections Inspectorate, which is independent from the Prison Service. The review will ascertain what factors caused the incident and whether Corrections can learn any lessons to help avoid this type of situation in the future.
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ISSN 1178-8453