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Four Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison staff members were injured in two separate assaults at the prison on Sunday, Corrections says. 

In the first incident, a prisoner used a sandwich press to assault a Corrections officer and threw hot water at three staff members. 

Deputy Commissioner for Men’s Prisons Neil Beales told Hawke’s Bay Today pepper spray was used to control the situation, and extra staff responded immediately. 

Three staff were taken off-site for medical attention, but none required overnight hospitalisation and there were no serious injuries. 

There was a suggestion sugar may have been mixed with the hot water that was thrown at staff members. 

Corrections said it had not yet confirmed that detail, and it would form part of the investigation. 

A second, unrelated incident happened in another part of the prison the same day. 

A prisoner punched a staff member, who was also assessed off-site and did not suffer serious injuries. 

Police had been notified of both incidents, and internal misconduct charges are under way. 

Beales said there were some unplanned staff absences that day, but the prison still had the right number of staff in both its units to go about its daily routines, including the unlocking of prisoners. 

“Violence in prison is not tolerated, and anyone who displays such behaviour will be held to account for their actions, including potentially facing criminal charges.” 

Beales said prisons can be volatile environments, with the vast majority of prisoners having violent criminal histories or mental health and substance abuse issues. 

“The reality is the threat of violence is something we cannot eliminate entirely, but we do everything possible to minimise this risk,” he said. 

“We have invested significantly in training and tools to keep our staff safe. This includes tactical skills, such as de-escalation, through to the provision of stab-resistant body armour, on body cameras and the expanded deployment of pepper spray.”