A guard at Wellington Correctional Centre has foiled a possible escape bid from a maximum-security cell block after discovering a make shift rope during a routine inspection, the NSW Department of Corrective Services said yesterday.
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The prison officer who was escorting cleaners through the area apparently spotted what appeared to be a piece of rope hidden behind a microwave in a small kitchen.
Corrective Services said the six-metre long rope had been fashioned from strips of prison blanket and knotted in intervals. Authorities said an investigation into who was responsible had commenced.
The discovery comes after weeks of mounting criticism against Corrective Services over insider allegations of a security breach cover-up at the Wellington jail.
Wellington Correctional Centre general manager, Clarrie Dries, and the NSW Corrective Services Commissioner, Ron Woodham, have both commended the prison officer responsible for the discovery.
Meanwhile, the NSW Government has attempted to quash calls for an independent inquiry into the running of the Wellington jail.
There was more than adequate auditing of the Wellington Correctional Centre, acting Correctional Services Minister Steve Whan said yesterday in response to calls for an independent inquiry by the Opposition and jail staff.
The debate comes after a staff member revealed the minimum security section of the jail had been left unlocked overnight and cast doubt on the handling of the incident.
“There are three independent bodies that oversee operations at Wellington Correctional Centre along with the State’s other 34 Correctional Centres,” Mr Whan said.
“Correctional Centres are audited and reported on yearly by the NSW Auditor-General, the Productivity Commission, and the NSW Ombudsman - all independent bodies in place to investigate and/or report on operations in Correctional Centres.”
“If the NSW Opposition has received such a claim I encourage them to refer it to the relevant independent body.
“There has not been a single escape at Wellington Correctional Centre.”
“I want to personally compliment this officer for the find,” Mr Woodham said.
“Officers are trained to be on the alert at all times for anything out of the ordinary and in this case the officer was right on the job.”
Mr Dries said yesterday’s find was the first for a possible escape bid in terms of “its magnitude” since the prison opened in 2007.
“It was a good find for the officer, it shows he is doing his job, he is alert and doing what he is trained to do,” Mr Dries said.
Equipped with razor wire fences, hidden motion sensors and constant surveillance an escape bid by any one of maximum security’s 59 inmates would be no picnic.
Mr Woodham said officers at Wellington were still trying to fathom how an escape bid would have succeeded from the area
“We still can’t work out the plan - to escape from Maximum Security at Wellington Correctional Centre you would have to go over three separate security barriers,” Mr Woodham said.
Meanwhile, the NSW Government has attempted to quash calls for an independent inquiry into the running of the Wellington jail.
There was more than adequate auditing of the Wellington Correctional Centre, acting Correctional Services Minister Steve Whan said yesterday in response to calls for an independent inquiry by the Opposition and jail staff.
The debate comes after a staff member revealed the minimum security section of the jail had been left unlocked overnight and cast doubt on the handling of the incident.
“There are three independent bodies that oversee operations at Wellington Correctional Centre along with the State’s other 34 Correctional Centres,” Mr Whan said.
“Correctional Centres are audited and reported on yearly by the NSW Auditor-General, the Productivity Commission, and the NSW Ombudsman - all independent bodies in place to investigate and/or report on operations in Correctional Centres.
“If the NSW Opposition has received such a claim I encourage them to refer it to the relevant independent body.
“There has not been a single escape at Wellington Correctional Centre.”