This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The Western Australian corruption watchdog has released footage of prisoners being capsicum-sprayed and wrestled to the ground by officers as part of a series of investigations into excessive use of force in the state’s penitentiary system.

Three reports released by the Corruption and Crime Commission this week found prison officers had used excessive force and then minimised or concealed that use of force in mandatory internal reports.

They also found evidence of collusion among other prison guards and that in most cases under review the department of justice had failed to investigate concerns raised about the incidents or review CCTV footage.

The CCC reports follow the release of a report by the state’s prison watchdog that found capsicum gas, flash grenades and laser firearm sights were used against young people in the Banksia Hill detention centre.

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In one case, the senior prison officer responsible for the use of force in two separate incidents was also the person responsible for compiling the report about the incident, including the statements by other prison officers who worked under him, in what the commission found was a clear conflict of interest.

Footage released by the commission showed two incidents at the Eastern Goldfields regional prison in Kalgoorlie in May 2017 and one at the Hakea remand centre in Perth in March 2016.

The Goldfields incidents occurred 16 days apart. They were detailed in a report into the conduct of a senior prison officer with 20 years experience who was seconded to Goldfields for six months.

The commission found the guard used capsicum spray against two prisoners in circumstances that it said were unjustified, and that in both cases he had “substantial control over the reporting process”.

It also found he presented an “implausible version of events … that minimised his use of force”, and reports filed by other prison officers were similar to the point that key phrases in one report had been copied.

On 4 May 2017, CCTV footage shows, the guard used capsicum spray against a man referred to as prisoner A, who was being held against a door after acting in an agitated manner at another guard.

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The report said the spray was used in close proximity, which the commission found “exposed prisoner A to an unacceptable risk of hydraulic eye damage”.

On 20 May, the same guard used capsicum spray on a man known as prisoner B once the man had already been shepherded into his cell. CCTV footage shows the man behaving in an agitated manner and picking up a chair.

Footage from inside the cell shows prisoner B standing at the rear of his cell when he was sprayed. He then gets in the bed, holds the blanket above his face and is sprayed again.

The guard said in his incident report prisoner B “went to come back at me so I deployed the chemical agent”.

The commission said he remained adamant his use of force was justified.

A third video shows a man being strip-searched in the management unit of the Hakea remand prison. He is held against the wall by three guards, with two more looking on.

One guard can be seen pushing his forearm into the prisoner’s neck, causing his head to hit the cell wall. When the prisoner turns around, the same guard suddenly pulls him to the ground and he and four other guards hold the man down.

The commission said the reports showed a repeated failure to properly report and investigate the use of force by prison guards, and pointed to failures of culture, training and supervision.