A man died in Auckland City Hospital 10 days after the alleged assault by his cellmate at Mt Eden prison. New Zealand Herald photograph by Michael Craig
A man died in Auckland City Hospital 10 days after the alleged assault by his cellmate at Mt Eden prison. New Zealand Herald photograph by Michael Craig
A homicide investigation is underway after an inmate died 10 days after allegedly being assaulted by his cellmate at Mt Eden prison.
The man’s death is the third homicide investigation involving inmates in double-bunk cells at the prison since September last year.
The death comes amid a Corrections review ofa risk assessment tool used in deciding whether prisoners are suitable to share a cell, after the two earlier suspected murders.
Mt Eden Corrections Facility (MECF) general manager Dion Paki earlier told RNZ that staff found a prisoner had been injured at 10.40am on November 29.
The inmate was assessed by on-site medical and taken to hospital.
“Our thoughts are with the man’s family at this difficult time,” Friend said.
Police inquiries into the man’s death would continue, with results of a post-mortem examination pending.
MECF acting general manager Edith Pattinson acknowledged the man’s death had been a “difficult and distressing time for his loved ones and our thoughts remain with them”.
“Police are investigating and Corrections is also carrying out a full review into this incident. An investigation by the independent Corrections Inspectorate will also be carried out. If these investigations and reviews identify areas where we need to strengthen our processes, we are absolutely committed to acting on these with urgency.
“We can confirm the victim was in a shared cell and that the suitability of this placement is part of our review into this matter. Understandably, the victim’s family will have questions they would like answered. We have been in regular contact with the man’s family, and once our review is complete we will share the findings of this with them when we’re able to do so.”
Shared cells
Corrections’ review would look into what risk assessments were done such as the Shared Accommodation Cell Risk Assessment (Sacra).
“Our frontline staff manage approximately 10,900 prisoners who are some of New Zealand’s most difficult and dangerous people.
“We take our duty to manage prisoners safely extremely seriously and are acutely aware that there have been several incidents at MECF in the past year alleged to have involved prisoners in shared cells.”
The Not to Double Bunk (NTDB) Policy has been updated in Corrections’ Prison Operations Manual to ensure staff were better supported in making informed decisions around adding, managing, and removing NTDB alerts, Pattinson said. Multi-Disciplinary Team meetings were also now required for reviewing and validating NTDB alerts.
“In addition, Corrections is undertaking a review of the Sacra process across the prison estate to ensure it is robust and as safe as possible. This review is now in its final stages, and again we are committing to acting on any changes needed with urgency.”
“However, we can confirm that our Custodial, Pae Ora and Intel teams will be considering the questions asked to inform suitability, the process to determine compatibility, and the review processes relating to Sacra. This will help inform what improvements can be made to the Sacra process.”
Corrections had also taken steps across all prison sites regarding shared cell risk assessments, including instructing that all assessments must be reviewed within 24 hours of completion to check whether any further or outstanding information had been received.
“This is because we often receive people from the courts late in the evening and information can sometimes be limited.”
