Latest news with #Corrections
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
At-risk Invercargill prisoners still being placed in dry cells
By Katie Todd of RNZ Corrections has continued locking suicidal Invercargill prisoners in rooms with no toilet or drinking water, despite being reprimanded for the practice six years ago. In 2019, then-Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier found it breached United Nations standards meant to prevent the torture of prisoners and to ensure their dignity. Since then prisoners identified as at-risk were placed in so-called dry cells at least 14 times, data obtained under Official Information Act showed. Dry cells, located in the prison's Intervention and Support Unit (ISU), were designed for monitoring prisoners suspected of hiding contraband. Corrections said at-risk prisoners were typically put in a different area of the unit, known as the 'safer cells' - rooms with no ligature points which allowed for close monitoring and access to specialist care. On 13 of the 14 occasions at-risk prisoners were placed in the dry cells since 2019, Corrections said the safer cells were full. Most of the instances occurred in 2023, and the most recent was in November 2024. Deputy Commissioner for Men's Prisons Neil Beales said staff were left with little choice. "We still have a responsibility to make sure that that person is properly looked after and we can't put them in a cell where there may be ligature points. It appears that what they've done there is they've used what was available to them," he said. "Nobody is saying that is optimal and preferable, but unfortunately it's unavoidable in those circumstances." When at-risk Invercargill prisoners were put in dry cells, they were still closely monitored and had access to specialised care, Corrections said. Beales said the duration of the stays varied - sometimes overnight and sometimes a few hours. Watchdogs repeatedly raised red flags Multiple watchdogs had warned Corrections about the use of dry cells for at-risk prisoners. The Ombudsman highlighted the issue in 2019 after an unannounced visit to Invercargill Prison. At the time Boshier visited, he said Invercargill Prison's three ISU safer cells were full, and two at-risk prisoners were being held in dry cells. They had been given cardboard receptacles instead of a toilet, he said. Boshier found that contravened Rule 15 of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners which stated "sanitary installations shall be adequate to enable every prisoner to comply with the needs of nature when necessary, in a clean and decent manner". In 2021, Boshier also warned against the use of dry cells for at-risk prisoners at Christchurch Men's and Whanganui Prisons. "Dry cells are a desolate and barren environment for prisoners who are already vulnerable. I do not consider it is ever appropriate to put at-risk people into cells with no toilets or drinking water," he said. In 2023, the Office of the Inspectorate also warned Corrections against the practice. Chief Inspector of Corrections Janis Adair spelled out her concerns in a report on Separation and Isolation across the country's prison system. "We observed that the dry cells were sometimes being used outside their intended purpose, for example because there were insufficient at-risk cells. This is not appropriate as the dry cells are especially restrictive," she said. "Dry cells also have no furniture, and the mattress is placed either directly on the floor, or on a low concrete base." 'Inhumane', 'appalling' and an 'utter failure' - advocacy groups call for accountability Amnesty International New Zealand advocacy and movement building director Lisa Woods said the continued use of dry cells for at-risk Invercargill prisoners was an utter failure. "People being placed in such conditions, especially after the Ombudsman has made it clear it goes against international human rights standards - it's beyond appalling," she said. "This ... shows the system is utterly broken." A breach of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, also known as the Nelson Mandela Rules, should be treated seriously, Woods said. "Over and over again, the criminal justice system is failing to treat people in its care with dignity, and this is unacceptable," she said. "Everyone has the right to dignity. That's inherent and important." Howard League for Penal Reform spokesperson Cosmo Jeffery, who was placed in a dry cell himself in the early 2000s, said he would not wish it on anyone, let alone someone in a vulnerable mental state. "It's totally inhumane. It's going back to the dark ages," he said. He questioned the lack of action to prevent the use of dry cells for at-risk prisoners. "There doesn't seem to be any resolution. There's no appetite for change," Jeffery said. Pressure on mental health care and cell space Since 2019, the population of Invercargill prison had fluctuated between 110 and 182 inmates, including people on remand. Beales said there had been a notable rise in the number of arrivals with significant mental health, drug and alcohol issues. "I know that our managers at those sites will do everything in their power not to use those cells. But when you're stuck with nowhere else to put them that is safe - we can't put people who are at risk on a bus and send them up the road, because that can be equally as damaging, as dangerous," he said. "They have to make the best decisions for safety of the people that we're managing and also the safety of our staff." RNZ asked Beales why Corrections had not increased the number of ISU safer cells in Invercargill Prison. He said given the nature and age of the building, Corrections had decided to invest its money elsewhere in the prison network. "What we've done is focus resources where they're going to give us better bang for buck." Corrections opened 500 new high-security beds at Waikeria Prison last month, and 96 dedicated mental health and addiction beds, he said. "If we utilise those facilities better, we take the pressure off the rest of the network," Beales said. Asked if dry cells would continue to be used for at-risk prisoners at Invercargill Prison, Beales said that would come down to capacity.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
At-risk Invercargill prisoners still being placed in dry cells, despite warnings
File photo. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly Corrections has continued locking suicidal Invercargill prisoners in rooms with no toilet or drinking water, despite being reprimanded for the practice six years ago. In 2019, then-Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier found it breached United Nations standards meant to prevent the torture of prisoners and to ensure their dignity. Since then prisoners identified as at-risk were placed in so-called dry cells at least 14 times, data obtained under Official Information Act showed. Dry cells, located in the prison's Intervention and Support Unit (ISU), were designed for monitoring prisoners suspected of hiding contraband. Corrections said at-risk prisoners were typically put in a different area of the unit, known as the 'safer cells' - rooms with no ligature points which allowed for close monitoring and access to specialist care. On 13 of the 14 occasions at-risk prisoners were placed in the dry cells since 2019, Corrections said the safer cells were full. Most of the instances occurred in 2023, and the most recent was in November 2024. Deputy Commissioner for Men's Prisons Neil Beales said staff were left with little choice. "We still have a responsibility to make sure that that person is properly looked after and we can't put them in a cell where there may be ligature points. It appears that what they've done there is they've used what was available to them," he said. "Nobody is saying that is optimal and preferable, but unfortunately it's unavoidable in those circumstances." When at-risk Invercargill prisoners were put in dry cells, they were still closely monitored and had access to specialised care, Corrections said. Beales said the duration of the stays varied - sometimes overnight and sometimes a few hours. Multiple watchdogs had warned Corrections about the use of dry cells for at-risk prisoners. The Ombudsman highlighted the issue in 2019 after an unannounced visit to Invercargill Prison. At the time Boshier visited, he said Invercargill Prison's three ISU safer cells were full, and two at-risk prisoners were being held in dry cells. They had been given cardboard receptacles instead of a toilet, he said. Boshier found that contravened Rule 15 of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners which stated "sanitary installations shall be adequate to enable every prisoner to comply with the needs of nature when necessary, in a clean and decent manner". In 2021, Boshier also warned against the use of dry cells for at-risk prisoners at Christchurch Men's and Whanganui Prisons. "Dry cells are a desolate and barren environment for prisoners who are already vulnerable. I do not consider it is ever appropriate to put at-risk people into cells with no toilets or drinking water," he said. In 2023, the Office of the Inspectorate also warned Corrections against the practice. Chief Inspector of Corrections Janis Adair spelled out her concerns in a report on Separation and Isolation across the country's prison system. "We observed that the dry cells were sometimes being used outside their intended purpose, for example because there were insufficient at-risk cells. This is not appropriate as the dry cells are especially restrictive," she said. "Dry cells also have no furniture, and the mattress is placed either directly on the floor, or on a low concrete base." Amnesty International New Zealand advocacy and movement building director Lisa Woods said the continued use of dry cells for at-risk Invercargill prisoners was an utter failure. "People being placed in such conditions, especially after the Ombudsman has made it clear it goes against international human rights standards - it's beyond appalling," she said. "This ... shows the system is utterly broken." A breach of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, also known as the Nelson Mandela Rules, should be treated seriously, Woods said. "Over and over again, the criminal justice system is failing to treat people in its care with dignity, and this is unacceptable," she said. "Everyone has the right to dignity. That's inherent and important." Howard League for Penal Reform spokesperson Cosmo Jeffery, who was placed in a dry cell himself in the early 2000s, said he would not wish it on anyone, let alone someone in a vulnerable mental state. "It's totally inhumane. It's going back to the dark ages," he said. He questioned the lack of action to prevent the use of dry cells for at-risk prisoners. "There doesn't seem to be any resolution. There's no appetite for change," Jeffery said. Since 2019, the population of Invercargill prison had fluctuated between 110 and 182 inmates, including people on remand. Beales said there had been a notable rise in the number of arrivals with significant mental health, drug and alcohol issues. "I know that our managers at those sites will do everything in their power not to use those cells. But when you're stuck with nowhere else to put them that is safe - we can't put people who are at risk on a bus and send them up the road, because that can be equally as damaging, as dangerous," he said. "They have to make the best decisions for safety of the people that we're managing and also the safety of our staff." RNZ asked Beales why Corrections had not increased the number of ISU safer cells in Invercargill Prison. He said given the nature and age of the building, Corrections had decided to invest its money elsewhere in the prison network. "What we've done is focus resources where they're going to give us better bang for buck." Corrections opened 500 new high-security beds at Waikeria Prison last month, and 96 dedicated mental health and addiction beds, he said. "If we utilise those facilities better, we take the pressure off the rest of the network," Beales said. Asked if dry cells would continue to be used for at-risk prisoners at Invercargill Prison, Beales said that would come down to capacity. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
Corrections breaches UN standards for prisoners in
Corrections has continued to put Invercargill prisoners at risk of self-harm or suicide in barren 'dry cells' - without toilets or running water - years after being told to stop. There has been another 14 instances of the practice since then-Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier found it breached UN standards for prisoner treatment in 2019. Katie Todd reports. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
New York Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Insane sanctuary laws make NYC unsafe — but ICE is up for the fight
Border Czar Tom Homan threw down a welcome warning to illegal-immigrant thugs — and a lifeline to beleaguered New Yorkers: ICE is coming, and it's going to 'flood the zone.' That's good news: New York City's crazy 'sanctuary' laws let illegal immigrant criminals hide in plain sight. 'Sanctuary cities are now our priority,' Homan announced, after an off-duty border cop was almost killed by two suspected illegal-immigrant criminals. 'Sanctuary cities are unsafe cities.' Advertisement Indeed, lefty activists who fight ICE agents and back local sanctuary laws share much of the blame for the violence their darling migrants commit. In fact, it's precisely those laws that force to Homan to send more agents than he otherwise would. That's because the laws ban ICE from prisons and jails, where illegal immigrants can be handed over to ICE, forcing agents to pursue them on the streets. Advertisement That's a lot more dangerous — and requires more agents to find and haul them in safely. 'If we can't arrest a bad guy in the safety and security of a jail,' notes Homan, 'we'll arrest them in the community.' The irony's unmistakable: 'Sanctuary cities get exactly what they don't want — more agents in their community,' he says. ICE used to have an office on Rikers, and when a dangerous illegal migrant came through the jail system, ICE would ask the NYPD or Corrections to detain him for deportation. Advertisement That ended over a decade ago: ICE was booted off Rikers by lefty loons in the City Council and then-Mayor Bill de Blasio. Per Homeland Security, Team Trump sent 6,000 ICE detainers to NYC — and the city ignored nearly all of them. Advertisement If the City Council wants to limit ICE's presence in New York, it should let the NYPD and Corrections communicate directly with ICE and the agency's officers return Rikers. But don't hold your breath waiting for that.
NZ Herald
20-07-2025
- NZ Herald
How former teen killer William Izett's Auckland car theft led to a possible life sentence
But a return to prison, he said, was the only realistic option. 'No dignity in death' At 17 years old, Izett was the oldest of three teens who violently targeted 74-year-old Wellington resident Donald Stewart outside a toilet block in Hamilton in June 2010, resulting in his death. Their motive was to steal his 1989 Peugeot 405, which they took for a joyride before leaving it abandoned in a ditch where they had crashed it. William Izett appears in Auckland District Court on July 18 for sentencing on charges of heroin supply and possession of an AK-47-style gun, ammunition and explosive gel. Photo / Craig Kapitan Co-defendant Connor Rewha-Te Wara, who was 14 at the time, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 11 years after pleading guilty to murder. Izett, meanwhile, was sentenced to four years' imprisonment after pleading guilty to manslaughter. Rewha-Te Wara had been the one who inflicted the fatal blows, Justice Patrick Keane noted when the trio appeared in the High Court at Hamilton to be sentenced together. The teens had formed a plan to steal the Peugeot after finding it with the lights on but doors locked as the driver used the facilities. When Stewart refused to hand over the keys after emerging from the toilet block, Rewha-Te Wara knocked him to the ground with a punch to the head. He was then dragged to an alleyway and suffered what the judge referred to as a 'sustained and brutal assault'. Donald Stewart buys petrol at a Hamilton Gull service station only hours before he was found dead in the central city. Photo / Supplied The judge acknowledged that Izett didn't participate in the physical attack and wouldn't have anticipated his co-defendant's level of violence. But that doesn't excuse standing by passively – neither stopping the younger teen nor helping the victim. 'You left in his car, leaving him where he lay,' the judge said. 'You afforded him no dignity in death. You stole his personal property and ultimately you were party to destroying it.' By that point, he had already had a lengthy and violent record, the court noted. Cannabis stabbing Two years after the Hamilton sentencing, while Izett was imprisoned in Dunedin, a Corrections officer said the inmate spat in his face. The officer reported the saliva going into his eyes, causing stinging. He then had to wait six months for blood test results. Izett, who had been angry because his cell was not unlocked as quickly as he wanted, pleaded guilty to assault. A decade later, in 2023, he was out of prison and living in emergency accommodation in a Hamilton motel when he was charged with wounding with intent to injure, possession of cannabis for sale and unlawful ammunition possession. Convicted killer William Izett admitted a decade later to stabbing a man at a Hamilton motel who had asked to buy his cannabis. Image / Google He was taking freshly cut cannabis plants to his room about 11am that day when the victim approached and asked if he could buy some. After telling the man to leave, Izett retrieved a hammer and knife from his car and challenged the man to a fight. The scuffle, caught on CCTV, ended with the defendant inflicting two knife wounds to the other man's torso. 'Hooked up' Five months after the stabbing guilty plea, the Ford Ranger went missing from Murrays Bay on Auckland's North Shore. However, the heist was short-lived. The vehicle had a GPS tracker, which led police to Izett's Dairy Flat home the next morning. Police found the registration plates in a wheelie bin at the property and the keys on the kitchen table. Social media messages later recovered by police suggested the vehicle, with plates that phonetically spelt 'hooked up', had been stolen as part of a scheme relating to the Mongols motorcycle gang, Judge Sharp noted. William Izett appears in Auckland District Court on July 18 for sentencing on charges of heroin supply and possession of an AK-47-style gun, ammunition and explosive gel. Photo / Craig Kapitan The heroin was found in a suitcase in the living room, divvied into snap-lock bags for distribution. The military-style, semi-automatic weapon was wrapped in sheets and a blanket nearby. In the same room, investigators found Orica Powergel, a putty-like, high-power explosive. Receiving such an expensive stolen vehicle carried a maximum sentence of seven years' imprisonment. But the discovery of the potent drug, found to have 76% purity, meant he faced up to life imprisonment. Judge Sharp described the heroin scheme as an independent commercial enterprise. There was no evidence that either defendant used the drug, with both instead addicted to methamphetamine – a much more common drug in New Zealand. 'Capable of change' At a jury trial earlier this year, Izett pleaded guilty to possessing the firearm and explosives, as well as receiving the stolen vehicle, but denied the heroin charge. Conversely, co-defendant Cherish-Ann Buchanan, 33, pleaded guilty to the heroin charge but denied receiving the vehicle or being in possession of the firearm. Jurors, however, found both guilty of the charges they denied. 'There's no secret that Mr Izett has stood or sat where he is sitting – he's been before the court before,' defence lawyer Kima Tuialii acknowledged at the start of the hearing this week. Police examine the scene where Donald Stewart's body was found by a street sweeper in 2010. Photo / Christine Cornege However, she emphasised her client's letter to the court and asked for a sentence that wouldn't be so crushing that he'd have trouble imagining his eventual reintegration into the community. 'He is somebody that is capable of change,' she said. Judge Sharp sentenced Izett to seven years and six months' imprisonment, while Buchanan was sentenced to four years and six months. Both sentences took into account reductions for what the judge described as backgrounds marred by 'tragic personal circumstances'. 'They involved things that should never have happened to them,' he said, declining to elaborate in open court. Izett's sentence included a three-month uplift for his significant history of prior offences. Buchanan received reductions for her previously clean record and for the hardship her imprisonment will cause for her five children. Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand. Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
