ODT

NationalDecember 8

NZ prison torture reports released

Prisoners have been subjected to degrading treatment, including being filmed while strip searched, bullied and victimised by other prisoners, and sleeping in "deplorable'' accommodation, a watchdog has found.

DunedinFebruary 24

Assaults at Otago prison increasing

Assaults at the Otago Corrections Facility are increasing, despite extra efforts to protect prisoners and staff from violence.

NationalSeptember 21

Pouch of tobacco $300 in prison

Nicotine-deprived prisoners are paying as much as $300 for pouches of black market tobacco, the New Zealand Drug Foundation says.

DunedinOctober 9

Prisoner protest leads to lockdown

A power outage which cut television and heating for some prisoners sparked a seven-hour protest and resulted in the Otago Corrections Facility being locked down on Saturday.

NationalOctober 9

'Houdini' recaptured

A man known as Houdini for his numerous disappearing acts, including a 2008 escape from Mt Eden Prison, has been recaptured after more than four months on the run.

OpinionAugust 10

Cheap, easy and better than jail school

We could end prison overcrowding inside 30 days if we overcame our humanist prejudices and applied some moral clarity. How so? Bring back the lash as an "offender's choice only" punishment. OK, this is a very nasty subject. But why not give some categories of criminals the option of severe corporal punishment, so that they can forgo imprisonment or get out earlier? And in doing this, confess that inflicting pain for an hour may be more humane than enforcing months or years in our now broken, crowded, indecent jails.

NationalJune 7

Fewer prison positive drug tests

Drugs are being shut out of the country's prisons, with prisoners recording fewer positive drug tests as the Department of Corrections clamps down on contraband.

EditorialMay 23

Prisons: 'moral and fiscal failure'?

It takes political courage to contradict the prevailing nostrums of the day, and National's deputy prime minister and Finance Minister, Bill English, is to be commended for doing just this.

DunedinMay 2

Diamond ready for Milburn posting

Rather than putting her paws up, a former police breeding dog called Diamond is heading to Otago Corrections Facility to work as a drug dog.

South OtagoApril 27

Second smokefree unit for prisoners

Voluntary smokefree units at Otago Corrections Facility (OCF) and nicotine replacements are helping prisoners break the habit before a smokefree ban is introduced later this year.

NationalJanuary 10

Ill health may have led to inmate's death

Police have named the prisoner found dead at Waikeria Prison in Waikato and say ill health may have contributed to his death.

DunedinDecember 16

Some prisoners back for Christmas

Some prisoners transferred from a prison damaged in the Canterbury earthquake on September 4 could be returned to the facility before Christmas.

NationalDecember 14

Labour seeks inquiry into repeat offending

Labour wants a parliamentary inquiry into repeat criminal offending, and what can be done to reduce it.

NewsAugust 29

Prison's drug treatment programme 'vital'

The first intake of prisoners to complete a new short-course drug treatment unit programme graduated yesterday at the Otago Corrections Facility.

South OtagoAugust 3

Prisoners damage cells

Firefighters from Milton and Mosgiel spent 90 minutes at the Otago Corrections Facility at Milburn yesterday after a prisoner set off the fire alarm.

NationalJune 23

Nursery industry undercut by prisons

Competition from cut-price prison labour has prompted the horticultural industry to call an emergency meeting next month.

The MixMay 21

Dead man talking

Horror at capital punishment in the United States led Nigel Benson to befriend a death row inmate. Meet Charles Don Flores.

NationalMay 20

More funding for prisons

Some of the clinking cash in today's budget will go to clanking keys in prisons after $69.3 million over four years was locked off for prison beds. Growth in prisoner numbers, combined with 1055 spaces being decomissioned, meant 2270 more prison beds were needed by 2019. Funding would go to:

NationalApril 28

Prisoner threatens girl from behind bars

Being behind bars was not enough to stop a man serving time in Wanganui Prison from threatening a 13-year-old girl using the prison's pay phones.

NewsApril 16

Plenty of work to be had in prison

Organic gardening, constructing septic tanks, refurbishing photocopiers and printing business cards are just some of the business enterprises operated out of New Zealand prisons.

OpinionApril 12

Doubts over three strikes policy

The "three strikes" legislation being considered by Parliament is being presented as an effective deterrent which will simplify court processes, hasten justice for victims, and punish criminals according to their crimes. Not so, argues Alex Penk.

DunedinMarch 23

Banning of visitors warning to others

The banning of four visitors from the Otago Corrections Facility in the month since a dedicated team started searching visitors and their vehicles, should serve as a warning to others, says the prison's manager.

OpinionMarch 22

Attorney-general must follow own advice

What happens when a proposed piece of legislation is judged by the attorney-general fundamentally to contravene individual rights? Surely, he informs his Cabinet colleagues, then proceeds to vote against it. Not necessarily, suggests Andrew Geddis.

DunedinMarch 17

Prisoners expected to put pressure on services

Huge pressure on health services could result from expected increases in prisoner numbers at the Otago Corrections Facility in Milburn, Dr Branko Sijnja says.

North OtagoMarch 10

Shorter drug, alcohol programme at prison

A new drug treatment programme that staff describe as "the way forward" began at the Otago Corrections Facility at Milburn this week.