NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Burning prison love forces Corrections to send in the riot squad

David Fisher
By David Fisher
Senior writer·NZ Herald·
28 Feb, 2018 04:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

More than 40 Corrections officers specially trained in containing large-scale prison unrest have cycled through Auckland Region Women's Corrections Facility. Photo / File

More than 40 Corrections officers specially trained in containing large-scale prison unrest have cycled through Auckland Region Women's Corrections Facility. Photo / File

Two lovelorn prisoners and an angry transgender inmate are behind unrest at Auckland women's prison that has seen specialist riot control teams sent in.

It comes at a time when our prison system is under extreme pressure - although the Department of Corrections denies that is a factor in this case.

Instead, unrest came after lovers who wanted to share a cell set fires at the prison in a bid to be housed together.

And an inmate who had previously identified as female and been housed in the prison caused chaos until allowed to return to a men's prison.

The NZ Herald has learned that more than 40 Corrections officers specially trained in containing large-scale prison unrest have cycled through Auckland Region Women's Corrections Facility.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

They have been sent in from prisons in the upper North Island, with each of the Advanced Control and Restraint teams assigned to help assert control.

READ MORE - OUR PRISON CRISIS
• 'They will strike' - Chief Ombudsman's warning over mental health treatment
• The Big Read: Mum of murdered teen urges 'heal young criminals but keep deadly killers in jail'
• Corrections on 'disaster' footing as ballooning inmate numbers drove creation of a mega prison
• Andrew Little: 'Longer sentences, more prisoners - it doesn't work and it has to stop'
• Mega prison plans head to Cabinet as Jacinda Ardern urged to keep Waitangi promise

The unrest has been partly blamed by those inside the system on tension resulting from crowding pressure.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Corrections denied that was a factor in current tensions at the prison.

Regional Commissioner Jeanette Burns said this week there had been "poor behaviour" from "a small number of prisoners".

That included causing damage, inciting violence and putting other prisoners and staff at risk, she said.

"Two prisoners who were in an intimate relationship, and who wanted to be placed in a unit together, have been at the centre of the unrest and had made it clear they would create as much disruption as possible until they got their way.

Discover more

New Zealand|politics

Why is Corrections helping inmates get bail?

09 Sep 08:22 PM
New Zealand|politics

Packed prisons turn to kitset cells

21 Oct 04:00 PM
New Zealand|crime

Crews contain fire at women's prison in South Auckland

05 Mar 05:06 PM
New Zealand|crime

Fiery passion: Lovelorn couple light more fires at women's prison

05 Mar 07:45 PM

"The prisoners are currently residing in separate units and both are settled and compliant.

The heightened tension at the prison also saw a Corrections officers transferring a transgender prisoner from the women's prison back to a men's prison.

The prisoner had identified as female and been approved to be placed in a women's prison since 2016.

Burns said: "The prisoner had been smashing windows and inciting other prisoners to be violent as they wanted to be returned to a men's prison."

The return to the men's prison - which happened yesterday - was the first of its kind since Corrections transgender prisoner policy started in 2014.

The number of female prisoners has risen even more sharply than the entire, rapidly increasing prison population.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
A prison cell at Auckland Region Women's Corrections facility. Photo / Doug Sherring
A prison cell at Auckland Region Women's Corrections facility. Photo / Doug Sherring

It went from 536 female prisoners in September 2014 to the 800 women in prison in September 2017. This morning there were 822 women in prison.

The Corrections' website currently states that it has space for 514 female prisoners - a figure that appears to be inaccurate and out-of-step with Corrections' current efforts to increase space through double-bunking and re-opening old facilities.

The NZ Herald was told pressure on the system was such that Corrections had little capacity to take on extra female prisoners.

Other coping measures have seen Corrections increase double-bunking in prisons, and reopening part of Arohata Prison - located next to Rimutaka Prison in Wellington - to provide an additional 120 beds.

Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has issued a stark warning about prisoners and mental health - treat them or "they will strike".
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has issued a stark warning about prisoners and mental health - treat them or "they will strike".

Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier told the NZ Herald this week that pressure to house female prisoners meant many were being imprisoned hundreds of kilometres from home - a factor which counted against rehabilitation efforts.

He also said crowding and double-bunking was leading to increased violence, less treatment of mental health issues and the heightened possibility of unwell inmates who were dangerous being released into the community.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
A prisoner is searched at Auckland Region Women's Corrections Facility. Photo / Doug Sherring
A prisoner is searched at Auckland Region Women's Corrections Facility. Photo / Doug Sherring

Our prison system is in the spotlight because it faces unprecedented pressure with numbers of inmates growing far beyond Ministry of Justice projections.

It has left Corrections short on space and asking the government to approve the building of a 3000-bed mega prison in Waikato to cope with a prison population that could grow as high as 15,000 by 2025.

Cabinet is due to decide on building the prison next month, even though it runs contrary to plans for a reform of the justice sector and a policy of bringing the prison population down by 30 per cent in 15 years.

The current prison population of around 10,700 has prison facilities stretched to capacity with fewer than 300 beds available across the country.

Even then, the space that exists has been created by an urgent prison expansion programme.

A prisoner's cell at Auckland Region Women's Corrections Facility. Photo / Doug Sherring
A prisoner's cell at Auckland Region Women's Corrections Facility. Photo / Doug Sherring

Chief Custodial Officer Neil Beales recently visited China to inspect prototypes of new cells which will be used to expand prisons at Rolleston and Tongariro.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The pre-built cells would be used as three 120-bed units, specifically built as double-bunked cells, and were hoped to be in place by mid-year.

In a statement, he said: "They are a durable, well-built, cost-effective, safe, secure and humane option for accommodating prisoners.

"They are not shipping containers or prefab concrete cells. They will be insulated and internally will resemble other newly constructed prisoner accommodation."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

'Asbestos material': Fire lights up night sky in West Auckland

13 Jul 09:36 AM
Sport

Black Sox looking for eighth win at Softball World Cup

13 Jul 08:11 AM
Crime

Man jailed after forcing children to witness horrific animal cruelty

13 Jul 08:00 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

'Asbestos material': Fire lights up night sky in West Auckland

'Asbestos material': Fire lights up night sky in West Auckland

13 Jul 09:36 AM

Fire crews were called to the scene around 7.30pm.

Black Sox looking for eighth win at Softball World Cup

Black Sox looking for eighth win at Softball World Cup

13 Jul 08:11 AM
Man jailed after forcing children to witness horrific animal cruelty

Man jailed after forcing children to witness horrific animal cruelty

13 Jul 08:00 AM
One person dead after two-car crash in Canterbury town

One person dead after two-car crash in Canterbury town

13 Jul 06:30 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP