Staff member verified lies over prison mishap

Kevin Polwart spent 50 days on the run after escaping from Auckland Prison at Paremoremo in 2009. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Unsupervised inmates in a maximum security prison tipped over a crane in a "high-risk near-miss" accident in the same work yard from which a prisoner escaped unnoticed by using an angle grinder.

A Corrections staff member tried to hide his poor supervision of the yard at Paremoremo by confirming false statements from three prisoners about the crane accident.

The accident came 12 months before Kevin Polwart, 49, escaped by cutting through two steel fences of the same yard in December.

Staff did not notice he was gone for three hours and he was eventually caught 50 days later.

Papers released under the Official Information Act reveal that Corrections promised to keep a closer eye on inmates working in the yard following the crane incident.

The documents show an untrained inmate was allowed to lift steel slabs by crane without prison staff watching,

Prisoner A, who was a qualified operator, allowed the untrained Prisoner B to control the crane in November 2008.

When Prisoner B lost control of the crane and it toppled over, Prisoner A took responsibility for the accident.

No one was hurt in the "high-risk, near miss" accident. Prisoners B and C backed up the cover story. But the false statements to Department of Labour investigators were confirmed by the prison staff member who was supposed to be supervising.

He was sitting in an office 50m away and later admitted confirming the fake story.

"The Department of Corrections has acknowledged it has a management system problem," says the Department of Labour report.

The incident has sparked a national inquiry as a cover-up was exposed during the investigation, in the form of false information being provided."

The term "cover up" was later clarified to relate to the false information from individuals, not Corrections.

The staff member received "adverse disciplinary action" as a consequence of confirming the false information, but was not fired.

The Department of Labour said the lack of adequate training and supervision in the pre-cast concrete yard were areas of concern, but these issues would be addressed by a Corrections national inquiry.

"The national investigation will hopefully expose the health and safety deficiencies within the pre-cast yard.

"The supervisors will be held accountable to make sure the machine operators are competently trained and qualified, and they will be required to monitor and supervise them more closely."

In response to the OIA request, Corrections said changes had been made to health and safety rules. All "safety critical" tasks were to be supervised at all times.

But just over 12 months later, Kevin Polwart escaped from the yard by cutting through two steel fences with an angle grinder.

Polwart, in prison for armed robbery, had a reputation as a security risk.

He escaped in 2001 and was free for 41 days, during which time he held up an Armourguard van in Auckland.

On another occasion he was caught with escape plans in his cell.

Following the crane accident, a Corrections Department spokesman said the changes made to supervision of prisoners related to crane operators, not all aspects of the yard.

"It is important to remember that the pre-cast yard at Auckland Prison caters to minimum and low medium security prisoners, and the supervision levels are set accordingly.

"There is an element of risk involved in allowing prisoners to work in industry workshops. This risk has to be balanced alongside the need to ensure these prisoners are assisted in their rehabilitation."