There has been a spike in low-level assaults at Otago Corrections Facility, while serious violence is declining, Corrections says. Otago Corrections Facility general manager Lyndal Miles said assaults behind bars increased after the prison began taking more high security prisoners from late 2022, as those inmates had a higher propensity to offend — even while in prison. Since then “extensive work” had been done to address violence and aggression, including investing in de-escalation training, providing stab-resistant body armour and body cameras and expanding the deployment of pepper spray. It had resulted in this trend levelling off and in most cases the rate of assaults had decreased at the prison. The only kinds of assaults where there had been a marked increase in the past year was the “prisoner on prisoner, no injury, assault category”. “This is our lowest level of assault and can include low-scale pushing and shoving or incidents such as someone throwing a teabag or orange peel at another prisoner,” Ms Miles said. “While no assaults are tolerated, no injuries result from these.” Over 80% of the prison population had convictions for violence in their criminal histories and more than 90% had a lifetime diagnosis of a mental health or substance abuse disorder. The number of prisoners affiliated with gangs had increased to more than 35%, which was a known predictor of violence, she said. “Gang members are over-represented in acts of disorder and violence in prison. “[They] are also known to incite other people in prison to carry out violent acts on behalf of the gangs.” OCF had a gang management plan, which prioritised reducing the influence of gangs on prisoners under the age of 25, disrupting gang recruitment and tattooing, and keeping staff safe from “getting got”, Ms Miles said. Gang management meetings were held monthly to maintain oversight and track the impact of this work. All prisons now had individual site safety plans to address violence and aggression, which were led by the prison director in consultation with local union delegates. “Our staff manage some of New Zealand’s most dangerous people in an extremely complex and challenging environment,” Ms Miles said. “The reality is the threat of violence is something we cannot eliminate entirely, but we do everything possible to minimise this risk.” Every assault on Corrections staff was taken seriously and any prisoner who resorted to violence was held to account, Ms Miles said. “This may be through internal misconduct charges, a change in security classification, or referral to police for consideration of criminal prosecution,” she said. Last week, murderer Bronson Kelekolio, 29, and violent offender Joshua Felise Nuu, 31, appeared in the Dunedin District Court after admitting their parts in an aggravated assault on another prisoner at OCF. Their attack included a barrage of punches and kicks before Nuu stomped on the victim’s head. Corrections staff told Nuu to stop, but Kelekolio continued punching the victim’s head, only stopping when additional staff arrived. Kelekolio “advanced on staff in a threatening manner”, a police summary said. Eventually, everyone was separated and placed back in their cells. The victim suffered a bloody nose and bruises to his head, face and body, but declined medical treatment. David Luke Tata, 40, was also sentenced last week for his part in a six-man pack attack on two other inmates at OCF. The gang-related assault left the first victim with a bleeding hand, a bruised eye and a cut to his mouth, while the second victim had multiple grazes to his head. felicity.dear@odt.co.nz
