Review of jail inmate's brutal stabbing finds gaps in information management

A brutal stabbing at Canberra’s jail that sent an inmate to hospital with serious injuries highlighted gaps in information management at the facility, an independent overseer has said.

On 13 December 2023, a male detainee approached an officer’s station in his unit at the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) with blood on his face and clothing, a report by the ACT Inspector of Correctional Services says.

He said he had been stabbed in the neck, back and shoulder by another detainee in his cell.

The then-18-year-old stabber was seen leaving his victim’s cell with what appeared to be a weapon in his hand. He was taken away, strip-searched, and all evidence was seized while his victim was taken to the Canberra Hospital with significant but non-life-threatening injuries.

An ACT Policing spokesperson said the 18-year-old was charged with intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm and handed a lengthy jail sentence over the crime and another offence by the ACT Supreme Court last month.

In the meantime, the Office of the Inspector of Correctional Services (ICS) began a review into the incident, which has been tabled in the ACT Legislative Assembly.

The review found the post-incident response by ACT Corrective Services was appropriate and aspects of evidence handling and crime scene management had improved from previous reviews.

“However, the review revealed that the jail currently uses two information systems for recording operational information in the accommodation units, introducing a risk that key safety and security information could be missed or not accessible in a timely way,” the ICS said.

“One system is the multi-million-dollar Offender Management System ‘CORIS’ that rolled out across the jail in 2022, but the review revealed that a ‘unit diary’ – a Microsoft Word document specific to the unit – was also in use, without any instructions to staff on what information should be included in each.”

ACT Inspector of Correctional Services Rebecca Minty said while it was not possible to conclude the assault could have been prevented through better record keeping, “having multiple systems introduces unnecessary and unacceptable risk in custodial operations and needs to be addressed”.

The review also found some corrections officers may have been aware of a conflict between the victim and the 18-year-old before the assault, but the risk of violence between them was not recorded anywhere prior to the incident.

The ICS recommended that Corrective Services undertake an immediate review of the interaction of the two information systems, with a view to ensuring that recording of information relating to risk, safety and wellbeing of detained people at the AMC is efficient, gaps are minimised, and systems are well understood by corrections officers.

An ACT Government spokesperson said the ICS’s report made three findings and one recommendation, which the government took very seriously.

“I welcome the inspector’s recognition of improvements driven by prior recommendations; in particular, the finding that ‘ACT Corrective Services staff secured and managed the crime scene and evidence according to policy and procedure’,” the spokesperson said.

“The ACT Government will consider the findings and recommendation in the report and provide a formal response.”

Meanwhile, last week, it was reported that two inmates at the jail died within a month.

Also, on 26 February 2023, 34-year-old Justin James Cordy died at the jail after being remanded into custody just a day earlier. A coronial inquest into his death began earlier this year.

On 1 February 2022, 27-year-old Luke Anthony Rich died at the AMC, just one day after he was remanded in custody.

An inquest recently found a “shortfall in the care and supervision of Luke contributed to his death”.