Corrections officer tells court he feared for his safety
Wednesday, 24 January 2024
A senior corrections officer on trial for using pepper spray against an inmate said he did so as he feared for his safety and the safety of his staff and denied escalating the situation.
Over the last few days, jurors have heard from a number of corrections officers and watched footage of the moment an inmate, housed in the mental health unit, was pepper sprayed after he refused to give towels back after having a shower.
The Crown have told the jury the pepper spraying by the senior corrections officer was unnecessary and disproportionate given the circumstances, but his lawyer told the jury he was doing his job in difficult circumstances and the use was justified.
The officer, who has interim name suppression, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault with a weapon.
He gave evidence in his defence on Wednesday becoming quite emotional when he told his lawyer Petrina Stokes, he was proud to have graduated as a corrections officer back in 2020 as he’d never graduated from anything.
On April 5, 2022, the officer was acting as a senior corrections officer in the Intervention and Support Unit (ISU), set up for prisoners with high mental health needs, a unit he’d worked since August or September 2020.
He told Stokes he’d had no training on how to deal with people with mental health issues.
On April 5, the inmate took a shower and was handed two towels. As he came out of the shower, he handed one towel back to a corrections officer, while the other was wrapped around his waist.
While the inmate was waiting for his cell to be cleaned, he walked over to a nearby trolley and picked up another towel and wiped his face and hair, CCTV footage shows.
ISU prisoners aren’t allowed to have more than one towel or take towels or other items into their cells for safety reasons.
The senior corrections officer told his lawyer about witnessing two previous incidents of prisoners self-harming.
After seeing the inmate grab an additional towel from the trolley, the corrections officer said he “immediately” thought he needed to go have a chat.
“Due to my training because of how at risk the unit is, anything can happen at any given moment,” he said.
The officer said he started speaking calmly with the inmate asking for the towels back, but he refused.
He then changed his tone to an authoritative and loud voice and gave the inmate between six and 10 lawful orders and warned he would pepper spray him.
At this point the officer said he was scared the inmate would use the towels as a weapon against himself or his staff.
“He was a lot bigger than me and we are taught to always be on our toes.”
The officer then decided to pepper spray him.
“It was the safest option to use against [the inmate] to regain control and compliance.”
The officer said he perceived the inmate to be “quite heightened” and angry. The officer acknowledged he was also heightened.
“He was failing at every given moment in the incident I could see no other viable outcome to the situation.”
Under cross examination by Kristy Li, the officer acknowledged the inmate had shown no sign of using the towels to self-harm.
Li said less than 20 seconds after approaching the inmate, the officer started yelling.
He disputed the loud, authoritative orders were not being used to de-escalate.
The officer agreed another officer’s tone was calm. The inmate handed a towel back to that officer.
The officer also said the inmate’s voice was aggressive and angry, however Li disagreed saying it was calm. The body camera footage picks up the inmate speaking in an even tone.
Li put to to the officer his use of the pepper spray was not necessary and not proportionate to the risk the inmate was posing.
However, the officer stood by his decision.
The trial before Judge Nevin Dawson and a jury continues.