Australia. Sacked guard turns tables and whistleblows on facility

A prision guard who was sacked after a jailbreak during which he was held hostage will lodge an unfair dismissal claim against the government, saying it was to blame for inadequate training in an overcrowded and antiquated youth jail.

Translation: The facility created a dangerous situation.

Joseph Fagan, now 72, was fired after a report found a security breach was to blame for the escape of  six boys aged 15 to 17 from the Melbourne Juvenile Justice Centre, Parkville, in May last year.

Mr Fagan was lured into a room at the centre where the youths held a 15-centimetre blade to his throat, cutting his hand and chin.

The inmates overpowered Mr Fagan after he unlocked a cell to pass on a roll of toilet paper. A report by former police commissioner Neil Comrie found that under security guidelines, two guards had to be present when cells were opened.

But the Community and Public Sector Union said managers had not told Mr Fagan of this requirement and the facility was too short-staffed at night for two staff to be present.

”There is blood on the hands of Department of Human Services and we intend to make them accountable,” said union state secretary Karen Batt.

But an Ombudsman’s report into conditions at Melbourne’s juvenile justice precinct in October last year found that ”Officer X”, the only guard on duty during the jail break at Parkville in May 2010, had earlier been accused of unlocking detainees’ bedrooms at night and allowing them to enter common areas. The Ombudsman said that 14 weeks before the six youths escaped, the centre’s unit manager told Officer X to stop unlocking doors.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/sacked-guard-to-turn-screws-on-government-20110517-1erbk.html#ixzz1MdBwzWSr

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