- 19 Mar 2006 11:25
#833147
Prison guards/officials are usually asses anyway so this isn't surprising, the excuse usual goes something like..."Prisoners are evil/tough, and after years of working around prisoners every day.....(insert)"
or
"Hey! They have a stressful job!"
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/ ... 77801.html
or
"Hey! They have a stressful job!"
FOUR prison officers have been sacked and two more counselled in the wake of the so-called "Sausagegate" scandal, which hurt and humiliated a vulnerable inmate of the privately owned and run Port Phillip Prison.
The Bracks Government has put GSL Australia, operator of the Laverton maximum-security complex, on notice over a spate of alarming incidents.
The prisoner was tricked into believing he was leaving the jail, coerced into inserting a sausage in his body, then strip-searched by officers "in" on the "joke".
The dismissed officers were corrections supervisor Trevor Spearman, who allegedly tried to cover up the incident, and corrections officer Steven Harmat, who allegedly played the leading role, and corrections officers Russell Davies and Appudurai Natkunarajah, who joined the prank.
Until last week, they had been suspended for six to nine months on full pay following the report of the investigation by GSL's security manager, Jim Keegan, revealed exclusively in The Sunday Age last week.
Anti-private prison activist Charandev Singh said the report shows that more needs to be done to address serious systemic problems in the prison.
His concern is backed by Vanessa Westcott, daughter of a man who died of an asthma attack at the prison in November after a help button he pressed apparently did not work. Ms Westcott said the prison was leaving people like her father, remanded alleged offender Ian Westcott, 55, in cells not monitored between 8pm and 8am.
His death, after he reportedly left a note saying he had called for help, is the subject of three inquiries. Ms Westcott, a University of Melbourne doctoral student researching in outback Western Australia, wants to prevent such tragedies occurring.
Her solicitor, Fitzroy Legal Service's Stan Winford, said not enough had been done to implement the findings of inquests conducted into deaths at the prison in the late 1990s.
GSL was recently given a penalty of almost $200,000 over "Sausagegate", which happened last May. The penalty appears to have included other incidents.
In another embarrassment this week, the company's transport manager, Rod St George, was dressed down by Judge John Nixon in Geelong County Court over a bungle that left a prisoner late for court and without food or water for almost seven hours.
The problems come at an awkward time for GSL and the Bracks Government, which is in the midst of a scheduled review of GSL's contract.
Minister for Corrections, Tim Holding told The Sunday Age: "The Government will not accept failure in the management of any of our prisons."
Under the terms of its 20-year contract, begun in 1997, GSL was to face a review after five years, then every three years. If renewed, the second of its three-year terms would begin on July 1.
Mr Singh, a human rights advocate with Brimbank Melton Community Legal Centre, said the penalty faced by GSL was "tokenistic" compared to its annual revenue of $147 million.
Police have investigated "Sausagegate" and have forwarded their investigation to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/ ... 77801.html
- By Rich
- By Skynet