Warder fury over murder charge
By Gosia Kaszubska, Stefanie Balogh and AAP
March 06, 2003
THE Bracks Government should urgently rethink the powers it gave Victorian
prison officers, unions said yesterday, after a warder was charged with
murder for shooting an inmate who allegedly was trying to escape from hospital.
Victoria's 1500 prison officers are incensed by the laying of the charge
against their colleague and argue it casts doubt on the rule allowing them
to use guns to stop escapes. Officers at the state's 13 prisons are
refusing to carry firearms to highlight their concerns.
Police are being used to cover the main duties of armed prison officers in
providing escort for maximum-security prisoners travelling to courts,
hospitals and prison. About 10 per cent of Victoria's prison officers are
licensed to carry weapons.
Premier Steve Bracks late yesterday criticised the bans but said he
believed further talks would resolve the issue.
Prison officer Fabrizio Federico, 28, was granted bail after being charged
yesterday with the murder of Garry Whyte, 39, as he allegedly ran from the
in-patient section of St Vincent's Hospital in May last year. Mr Federico's
counsel, Con Heliotis QC, told the Victorian Supreme Court it would be "a
very difficult case to prove intent and lack of lawful justification".
Outside court, Amanda George, the lawyer representing Whyte's widow,
Jacqueline, and their three children, said the family was "trying to deal
with the fact that Garry was shot dead, and they hope that the trial is a
thorough investigation".
The murder charge has incensed the Community and Public Sector Union, which
represents the state's prison officers. Spokesman Julian Kennelly said the
Bracks Government needed to urgently examine the powers of prison guards.
"The charges that have been laid against our member clearly cast doubt over
the power given to officers to discharge their firearm in the course of
their duty," Mr Kennelly said.
"We cannot tell them to put themselves in exactly the same position until
this trial is completed, until the matter is sorted out or finalised in
whatever way necessary."
Mr Kennelly said that until the impasse was resolved, no prison officer
across Victoria's 13 jails � 11 government-run and two privately operated �
would take part in any prisoner escort that required them to carry guns.
He said that under current regulations, prison guards had the power to fire
their guns if they believed a prisoner was escaping.
He said he could not guarantee that guards would resume escorting prisoners
if the Government provided alternatives to guns, but he conceded it would
"go a long way to resolving the impasse".
The union and the office of Correctional Services Commissioner Kelvin
Anderson were in talks last night.
A spokesman for the commissioner said: "What we are looking to do is to
find a position so that the system is running normally again, and that's
obviously taking a bit of time and effort."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,6082429%255E2702,00.html
