Two detainees had been involved in an argument hours before a serious stabbing incident last year at Canberra's jail but there was no record kept of the steps taken by staff to resolve the issue.
A critical incident report released by the independent Inspector of Correctional Services, Rebecca Minty, found that two separate incident record-keeping systems had been in place for the jail's Special Care Centre North wing. One was the central information management system known as CORIS and the second was a Microsoft Word-based "daily brief" document relevant only to that cell block.
SCC-North is known as an assisted care unit where inmates are held who are in protection from others in the prison, or have "complex presentations and vulnerabilities because of mental health, disability or other needs".
On the day of the December incident, the report described how around 5pm, a detainee approached an officer's station saying he had been stabbed in the neck, back and shoulder by his cellmate.
A "code blue" medical emergency was called, with the alleged perpetrator seen leaving the cell with a weapon in his hand and entering the cell next door. The alleged offender was detained, strip-searched and evidence seized.
The timing of the incident was fortunate for the victim because Justice Health nursing staff were doing medication rounds nearby. Initial treatment for the wounds was prompt and professional, although the victim was assessed as in need of further treatment and was taken by ambulance to hospital.
The inspector's report found that investigation which followed was appropriate, with Corrections staff securing and managing the crime scene and evidence according to policy and procedure.
However, only one report provided limited insight into a possible motive, revealing that after the incident, the victim had told of an earlier argument that officers working the unit had attempted to resolve.
But no other incident reports mentioned the argument, nor was there any documented evidence of the attempted mediation which the inspector said "may have been relevant to a consideration of a violence risk or reconsideration of accommodation placement".
Compatible record-keeping, reviewing the "interaction of CORIS with the daily brief" was recommended.
Whilst it was not possible to conclude that 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 inspector said.
