22 October
Please attribute to Prison Manager George Massingham:
The Department can confirm that a prisoner was stabbed in an incident at Hawkes Bay Regional Prison last night.
The injured prisoner was transported under escort to hospital and remains in a critical but stable condition.
The incident occurred within a low security unit, the full details of the incident have not yet been established.
Police are now investigating the incident and the Department is providing full support to the investigation.
Behaviour such as this will not be tolerated by the Prison. Alongside any criminal charges that may eventuate from the Police investigation, the Department may look to lay internal charges against the perpetrators.
Prison is a difficult and sometimes volatile environment and, unfortunately, incidents do occur from time to time. Many prisoners have long histories of resorting to violence to resolve problems or when they are frustrated.
The safety of the public, staff and prisoners is our key concern and our staff are fully trained to deal with incidents of violence in prison.
Copyright © Department of Corrections | Feedback and queries email: webmaster@corrections.govt.nz