Violent Prison. So, here’s the deal: an inmate from Canberra’s prison got a hefty payout of almost $160,000 after being dragged out of his cell in a rough way back in 2017. Chief Justice Lucy McCallum said it was excessive force and called it “degrading.”
The Incident: Hard Extraction
The whole thing went down after the man’s cellmate started a fire. They moved him and some others to an area with no showers or places to exercise. As you can imagine, after a few days, they were pretty upset about being isolated.
Things got worse when some prisoners smashed the windows of their cells. That’s when the man was removed.
Not Your Typical Removal
So, four correction officers went into the cell. They found the guy kneeling, just like they asked him to. But then, one officer yanked him away from the wall, spun him around, and slammed him to the floor. Ouch. Then they cuffed him from behind and dragged him out.
They took him down a corridor and some stairs, using a hold that was supposed to cause pain for compliance. Not fun.
The Aftermath: Injuries and Pain
Once they reached a holding area, they made him kneel again. A prison officer pulled his arm sharply behind his back, and guess what? It hurt. The man ended up with a painful shoulder injury.
The whole thing was caught on CCTV, and the judge said it was tough to watch. You could hear the guy crying out in pain in the footage.
What the Judge Said
Chief Justice McCallum watched the footage and saw that the force used was way too much. She said it was an assault because the guy wasn’t resisting. It caused him a lot of pain and distress, and she called it degrading.
Challenges in the Prison System
The judge did acknowledge that it’s tough to keep everyone safe in prison. The resources are tight, and that night was no different. They had too many inmates for the area they were kept in, which was supposed to be a reception area. That made things really stressful for both inmates and officers.
Plus, officers were worried about their safety because of previous assaults by prisoners. And to top it off, it all happened during shift change when there weren’t many staff around.
The Big Picture
Basically, the judge said that as long as prisons are overcrowded and lack resources, things like this might keep happening. She thinks that full-time imprisonment might not be the best solution for serious offenses if prisons can’t offer real chances for education and change.
That sums up the whole situation – a messy, painful deal that ended up costing the system a pretty penny.
