Waikeria riot: Phone system hammered in low-security section after destruction

The high-security complex at Waikeria was wrecked in the unrest. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Prison bosses say Waikeria's remaining inmates are suffering from damaged phone systems in fallout from the Waikato high-security complex riot.

The longest, most destructive New Zealand riot in decades broke out at the 110-year-old building known as the "top jail" on December 29.

The Department of Corrections said damage to Waikeria's infrastructure, including the prisoner payphone system, was reverberating a month after the unrest ended.

"We are working urgently to resolve these issues, but can provide assurance that all people in prison in other units are safe and well," Robert Jones of Corrections said.

These parts of Waikeria housed low- and medium-security prisoners.

"Staff are working hard to enable individuals to make calls from other phones on
site, but there is a significant demand," Jones added.

He said after the destruction, the department tried to ensure a return to normality by reinstating visits and installing additional phones.

About 200 inmates were evacuated from the top jail, which was uninhabitable.

A new 500-bed facility, with an extra 100-bed mental health section, was under construction at Waikeria and due for completion next year.

Jones said before the unrest erupted, authorities recognised the top jail, opened in 1911, was unfit to meet staff or inmate needs.

Corrections also outlined when two riot reviews were expected to conclude.

The first, by the department's Chief Custodial Officer, should be done by March 31 and the second, from the Chief Inspector, should be completed by October 31.

But multiple groups have called for an independent review.

The high-security complex was slammed in an Ombudsman's report last year.

The report found many men in the top jail were double-bunked in cells meant for one person, living conditions were poor, and violence was rampant.

Tania Sawicki Mead, director of justice reform group JustSpeak, said that damning report showed prisoners likely had at least some legitimate concerns about Waikeria conditions.

"That should put a lot of naysayers to rest on this."

But she said civil society groups and the Human Rights Commission weren't given the chance to take part in any investigation of the December 29-January 3 unrest.

Sawicki Mead said Corrections already used loaded language describing Waikeria events, such as by labelling the unrest a "riot".

She said prisoners and their whānau might perceive the events very differently.

She wasn't persuaded the Chief Custodial Officer and Chief Inspector reviews would be impartial or thorough.

A new complex at Waikeria Prison was already under construction before the riot. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Amnesty International has called for an independent review, as has prison reformist Sir Tā Kim Workman and former police crisis negotiator Lance Burdett.

The Corrections Association, representing prison staff, also said last month it would welcome an independent review.

In a document circulated online, prisoners reportedly complained of filthy drinking water and having to eat from paper bags next to open, shared toilets.

Taimana Norton Soames, 25, appeared in Auckland District Court last week.

Soames was charged with being a member of a riot and unlawfully damaging prison property.

He was also accused, along with 16 other men, of arson, aggravated burglary, rioting and riotous damage.

In court documents, Soames and 16 other men were accused of entering part of the jail illegally, using a steel pole, wooden seat and "specialised breaching tool" as weapons.

Soames entered no pleas and was remanded in custody to February 5, when he's expected to appear with other accused men at Hamilton District Court.