Serco won't be grilled over prison accusations

  • 22/07/2015
Serco won't be grilled over prison accusations

By 3 News online staff

National MPs have been criticised for vetoing a request to have Serco, which runs Mt Eden Corrections Facility, to appear before a select committee.

Labour's corrections spokesman Kelvin Davis has accused the Government of being "soft" on the company which has been in the spotlight over footage of prisoners engaging in 'fight clubs', drinking and smoking drugs while in jail.

He also claimed yesterday a prisoner had died due to serious injuries received at Mt Eden prison as a result of a practise called 'dropping' where a prisoner is dropped from a balcony by others.

Dropping is just the "tip of the iceberg", he says.

Two reviews, one by the Government and another by Serco, are underway, but Mr Davis wants more answers.

At the Law and Order Select Committee this morning, an invitation to have Serco's director of operations Scott McNairn answer questions about the goings-on at the prison was voted down.

"It was National who made the decision to outsource our prison system to a private company, and now they are stopping Parliament from asking questions about the mess they have created," he says.

"The Government is being soft on Serco, allowing them to investigate themselves. This is further evidence we need a fully independent investigation to get to the bottom of what is happening in our prisons."

Mr McNairn told Radio New Zealand he didn't know about 'dropping' and it hadn't been reported to the company or the Corrections Department.

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