Fri, 13 Nov 2009 9:50a.m.
Prison safety is under review after convicted murderer Graeme Burton was yesterday found guilty of attempting to murder another prison at Paremoremo prison last year
Prison safety is under review after convicted murderer Graeme Burton was yesterday found guilty of attempting to murder another prisoner in the maximum security Auckland Prison at Paremoremo last year.
The Corrections Department said it would review what could be done to improve prison safety, Radio New Zealand (RNZ) reported.
Burton, 38, was found guilty of attempting to murder Dwayne Marsh on December 20 last year.
Burton entered Marsh's cell with a sharpened steel rod and chased him up and down a prison corridor outside the cells three times before prison guards removed Marsh from the area.
He struck Marsh more than 20 times during the attack. Three of the blows were to the chest area and one penetrated his heart. Marsh required emergency hospital surgery to save his life.
It was one of several serious incidents in the East Division of the prison, where Burton was held, which had prompted the safety review, Corrections assistant general manager of operations Leanne Field told RNZ.
The department had to try to ensure a balance between staff and prisoner safety and giving prisoners time outside their cells, she said.
There were 261 inmates at the prison, who were managed in groups of six as individual time out of their cells was not possible, she said.
"We do look on anyone who poses any issues for us a little differently and develop an individual management plan and that's exactly what's happening with Mr Burton, he currently doesn't have contact with any other prisoners."
Weapons had been fashioned out of everyday items like pens and toothbrushes in the past, but these items enabled the prisoners to live "some sort of a normal life", Ms Field said.
This year, high-profile murderer and samurai sword attacker Antonie Dixon was found dead in his cell at the prison.
His lawyer, Barry Hart, said Corrections had let Dixon down.
His death was investigated by the Prison Inspectorate, which acted independently of Prison Services, with the investigation monitored by the Office of the Ombudsmen, Ms Field said in February.
Dixon was understood to have tried to pull a makeshift weapon on Mr Hart during a prison visit, and in 2007 used a fork to try to gouge out the eye of a prisoner, who required hospitalisation.
NZPA
