Marion Van Dijk/Stuff
A prisoner’s transfer was delayed after a prisoner smeared himself and his cell with faeces. (File photo)
A prisoner smeared feces all over his cell and then himself, delaying a prisoner’s transfer.
The incident, known to those in the country’s prisons as a “dirty protest”, took place Monday morning at Otago Corrections’ Facility near Milton, south of Dunedin.
The prisoner responsible for the protest would not want to be transferred to Christchurch Men’s Prison, a source said.
A Corrections spokesperson said an incident of this nature, which is unusual at the facility, usually resulted in an internal misconduct charge, but that had not yet happened in this case.
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Prison warden Dave Miller said the prisoner was “non-compliant when staff arrived to take him from his cell to an escort vehicle”.
The prisoner covered his cell and himself with his own excrement.
Staff developed a plan to safely remove him from the cell, and control and restraining teams were assembled with proper protective equipment, he said.
The teams entered the cell and were able to put on the handcuffs without incident. Neither the staff nor the prisoner were injured.
The prisoner was able to clean himself and change into clean clothes, and was then transferred to the prisoner escort vehicle.
The transfer, involving eight prisoners, began after an hour delay due to the incident.
Miller said prisons can be volatile environments.
“We will not tolerate any behavior that endangers our staff, and any prisoner who engages in such behavior will be held accountable for their actions.
“This could be through allegations of internal misconduct, a change in security rating, or referral to the police for consideration of criminal charges.”