Prison guards reveal how criminals are using the coronavirus crisis in desperate attempts to get their jail time cut short
- Criminals argue they should be spared jail time to avoid getting the coronavirus
- Prison guard says 'they'll get up there and say anything' when facing the courts
- Some non-violent, vulnerable prisoners will be allowed to leave prison early
Australian criminals are using the coronavirus pandemic to get special treatment or their jail time slashed, it has been claimed.
According to a prison guard who works in New South Wales prisoners will 'say anything' in court and have used the threat of infection as an excuse to get a more lenient sentence
On Monday one defendant staring down a litany of robbery and escaping custody charges told a District Court judge that he should be moved out of prison and into a 'far cleaner' rehab facility to avoid the coronavirus.
The man's lawyer claimed inmates at Parklea Correctional Centre in Sydney do not have access to antibacterial products and have resorted to cleaning their own cells with shampoo, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Inmates pictured roaming the yards at the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre at Silverwater in Sydney
Australian criminals are using the coronavirus pandemic to get special treatment and have their jail time slashed, corrections officers have revealed
But Corrective Services New South Wales claimed they are taking stringent measures to protect prisoners against the virus, including a 'significant increase in cleaning'.
'All staff and inmates are screened on entry to a prison or other Corrective Service New South Wales facility to identify those with possible symptoms of COVID-19 or who have been overseas or had contact with a confirmed case in the past 14 days,' a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
'We are working closely with Justice Health to monitor inmates at increased risk from infection including those with a history of respiratory illness.
'All inmates who show possible symptoms of the virus are isolated, provided with a surgical mask and tested promptly.'
The Shortland Correctional Centre at Cessnock (above) is a maximum security prison in the New South Wales Hunter Valley where two fires broke out on Friday
The New South Wales Government recently passed emergency legislation which will make it possible for non-violent, vulnerable inmates to be released early in some circumstances.
One of the more drastic measures introduced by correctional facilities across Australia has been the suspension of all personal prison visits.
Tensions boiled over on Friday when two fires broke out at Cessnock's Shortland Correctional Centre — a maximum security prison in New South Wales' Hunter Valley.
But Corrective Services Commissioner, Peter Severin, downplayed the unrest and its links to prisoner stress over the coronavirus.
'They were not related, to the best of our knowledge, to any COVID-19 regime — but they happened and were managed very professionally by our staff and fortunately nobody was injured in the process,' he told the ABC.
So far, there have no confirmed coronavirus cases in Australian prisons.
