KEY POINTS:
The Corrections Department faces fresh allegations that corruption is rife at one of the country's biggest prisons.
"Rimutaka prison and the Department of Corrections are a disgrace and a joke," said former prison officer Andy Coward, who was recruited from Britain and worked in the high security segregation
unit for six months before quitting last May.
Dr Coward, who has a PhD in cognitive psychology, told the Herald of an environment in which smuggling contraband was blatant and documents were filled in with fraudulent details.
"You could find something in just about every cell - weapons, cellphones, drugs ... if searching was done properly there wouldn't be anything," said Dr Coward, who has 20 years' experience in prisons on four continents.
"Cell searches were signed off without being done ... and this happened most days."
Officers were the most common conduit for smuggling, he said.
"You would be hard pressed to find a prison officer at Rimutaka who would deny the fact that contraband is brought into the jail via staff."
Dr Coward's comments mirror the allegations of Dutch prison officers Ingrid and Mark Rijniers, who claimed gang members controlled the unit in which they worked.
Corrections has set up an independent investigation that has found support for claims of smuggling by Rimutaka prison staff.
The police will become involved if any officers are found to have committed criminal acts. The team is also trying to contact Dr Coward about his allegations.
Dr Coward did not see officers accepting money from prisoners, but told the Herald of a former colleague who quit because of an officer who frequently smuggled contraband.
"Prisoners said to me: 'You get s ... wages, do you want to make some money?' They learn quickly if you're not going to bring in anything."
Dr Coward said many officers were not corrupt, but that didn't stop others.
"You're always hearing about staff having affairs with prisoners."
Corrections said that since July 2002, 10 officers nationwide had resigned while being investigated for having relationships with prisoners.
Dr Coward said it was an unsafe working environment where racism was rampant.
The electronic locking system frequently failed and left staff stranded. The fault allowed two prisoners to walk out of their cells and steal tobacco and a knife from the office.
Dr Coward showed the Herald insulting emails that referred to its recipient as "pommy bastard" and "numb nuts". He said Pacific Islanders were frequently called "coconuts" and "niggers".
"I've never met anyone as friendly and decent and upright as Kiwis, yet the prison service was the most despicable thing I've ever seen."