Fight clubs at Mt Eden Prison were first investigated seven years ago, back when the prison was still under the control of the Corrections Department and Judith Collins was Corrections Minister.
Serco lawyer Hayden Wilson revealed organised fight clubs were looked into at Mt Eden Prison in 2009 during a hearing in the High Court at Wellington today, in which the private prison operator is trying to block the release of a report into last year's scandal.
"This investigation was not the first investigation into organised fighting at prisons at Mt Eden. It was, however, the first investigation Serco was aware of", Mr Wilson says.
"Two investigations had been conducted into organised fighting at Mt Eden Correctional Facility – one in 2009, well before Serco took over management in 2011."
Corrections have confirmed an investigation into allegations of fighting and possible staff involvement in 2009.
Corrections says the investigation was at the old Mt Eden Prison which closed in 2011, rather than the newer prison which Serco now has control of.
A Corrections spokesman says the investigation was commissioned by the Northern region manager, and found it was likely that some prisoners were involved in fights, which were likely to be short fights or assaults carried out in areas away from staff or CCTV cameras.
The spokesman said the report found that it was unlikely that staff were involved, and for that reason the allegations were not escalated to the minister at the time.
Mr Wilson said Serco was not made aware of the fight club investigation when it agreed to take over operations in 2009.
The Corrections Minister at the time of the initial investigation was Ms Collins, who also awarded Serco the Mt Eden contract. It is not known if Ms Collins was aware of the fight club issue at that point.
Ms Collins says she was not advised of any investigation in 2009.
A spokesperson from her office says the allegation relates to the old Mt Eden Prison, which was closed in 2011, renovated, and renamed Mount Eden Correctional Facility when Serco took over its operations.
Ms Collins has since been reappointed Corrections Minister.
She declined to comment today, with a spokeswoman saying the 2009 investigation was an "operational matter", and that it was an "operational investigation" and there was "no report prepared".
Serco is in court attempting to block the release of a report by the Chief Inspectorate of Prisons into the fight clubs, which were exposed when video footage of violent clubs inside the prison were posted online.
Serco took control of the prison in 2011.
There was another investigation by the Corrections Department into fight clubs in July 2014, but a report into that wasn't released to Serco until May 2015.
Mr Wilson said the delay in the release of that report meant Serco couldn't fix the problems in a timely fashion.
"The whole National Government has dropped the ball with the privatisation of prisons," said Labour Corrections spokesman Kelvin Davis.
"The walls that stop people getting out prevent external scrutiny getting in. They're being economical with the truth as to what was going on in there.
"It has been a mess and the country needs to see how big the mess is. The report needs to come out."
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