Tuesday 17 May 2022 05:40 AM Aussie father in jail admits crime because life of freedom so hard, phone ... trends now
A tired Australian father who has spent so much of his life in jail it's 'become home' has revealed he's desperate to help his young son avoid a life of crime.
Darrel, who is doing a 14-month stretch and has spent 20 of his past 26 years in jail, is so uncomfortable with freedom that he admitted deliberately getting locked up in the past.
The regretful 40-year-old is embracing a NSW Corrections program in Wellington Correctional Centre to write stories to his boy and said it is 'changing' him.
'I've done a lot of jail, maybe 20 years in instalments. I'm 40, I've been coming in and out [of jail] since I was about 14. It becomes home, it's my safety net in a sense,' Darrel said.
Darrel, who is doing a 14-month stretch and has spent 20 of his past 26 years in jail, is so uncomfortable with freedom that he admitted deliberately getting locked up in the past
The worn-down dad is one of several inmates and corrections officers sharing their stories in Channel Nine's recent series Australia Behind Bars.
'When things get a bit hard outside [I] just stuff up and come [back to] jail,' he said.
'But now I've got a son, things are changing, yeah. My son is my drive, my focus for when I get so-so. I don't want him to go down this path.'
The 'Shine for Kids' program Darrel is taking part in is partly about breaking the cycle of generational criminality in families.
One of the activities Darrel does is write about dinosaurs to his young son.
'I'd rather be in here doing this than doing something else in the yard,' Darrel said.
It is estimated up to 77,000 Australian children have had least one parent incarcerated.
Based on estimates that one in five inmates also had a parent in jail, that means that 15,000 children with a parent who has done time are also at risk of following them.
'It's [about trying to] connect the dads with their children and build that bond [to] try and stop recidivism,' said Tanya, Wellington Corrections Centre's child and family coordinator.
In 2018, Daily Mail Australia visited Australia's newest maximum security prison, where inmates can make late night telephone calls or watch their own touch-screen televisions - but they are under extreme scrutiny.
This is the Hunter Correctional Centre (HCC), north of Sydney, and jail authorities believe it may be the future of rehabilitating some of our worst criminals. This is not the facility Darrel is housed in.
Inmates present themselves for muster; as each of their surnames is read out they will answer 'yes', 'yes, miss' or 'yes, sir'
There are no cells and inmates can make late night telephone calls or watch their touch-screen TVs - welcome to Australia's newest maximum security prison, the Hunter Correctional Centre at Cessnock, about 150km north of Sydney
The design of Hunter Correctional Centre features four wings, each with four dormitories - or 'pods' - housing 25 inmates in cubicles. Each cubicle has a desk, stool, mattress and a 60cm interactive television. Inmates can decorate their cubicles
They are also under some of the most intense surveillance of any prison in the country and an elite armed immediate action team is stationed within the facility providing a constant response capability for any incident.
The aim of the rapid-build prison is 'to achieve as close to 100 per cent engagement of inmates in employment, life skills, education and programs to address their offending behaviour,' a Corrective Services spokeswoman said.
The radical layout of one of Australia's newest prisons, the Hunter Correctional Centre (HCC), north of Sydney, makes it far more difficult for prisoners to hide contraband
As well as working for five hours a day - for a $65 a week pay cheque - inmates have up to three hours for activities including access to the oval, running track, library and a multi-faith chapel.
'Charlie' is a 25-year-old offender who still has to serve at least 12 years of his sentence and has been at HCC since March. He has previously spent time at the maximum security Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre at Silverwater, Lithgow, Parklea and Long Bay jails.
The 60cm interactive television in each cubicle provides access to free-to-air channels, radio and occasional movies
'I'd like to stay here,' Charlie says.
'As far as jail goes for a maximum security inmate this is as good as I've seen it.'
Hunter Correctional Centre was built in just 12 months and opened on January 30.
Its design features four wings, each with four dormitories - or 'pods' - housing 25 inmates in office-sized cubicles. Each cubicle has a desk, chair, mattress and a 60cm interactive television.
Members of the immediate action team monitor a pod being mustered from a mezzanine level above the 25-man dormitory
Some of the cubicles are decorated with pictures of scantily-clad women - including one of Margot Robbie in a one-piece swimming costume published only this week - while others are plastered with photographs of grandchildren.
Rugby league emblems are popular and many inmates use a rolled up towel on the floor to mark their cubicle's imaginary 'door'.
The touch-screen TV has all free-to-air channels, as well as movies, radio and a 'kiosk' where inmates can monitor their prison accounts and phone balances.
Inmates are provided with toilet paper, plastic cutlery and safety razors which they can store in their personal cubicles
There are two telephones which can be used for 10-minute paid calls from 6am to 9pm and a kitchen with two microwave ovens, two fridges, one commercial toaster, a hot water urn and toasted sandwich press, bolted down.
Each pod has eight bathroom cubicles which contain a toilet, sink and shower. Only one inmate is allowed in the cubicle at any time, allowing for greater privacy and security.
There is a panic button inside the cubicle and an alarm system is activated if more than one person enters the bathroom or if an inmate spends too long inside.
There have been no deaths in custody, no escapes, only one self-harm incident and assaults on inmates are way down at HCC
While the security arrangements for accommodation differ from other maximum security prisons, the outside perimeter appears traditional, if more technologically advanced.
Two 5.1m anti-climb fences are separated by a sterile zone which is monitored by a visual motion detection system incorporating infra-red cameras which make night appear almost like day.
There are more than 600 CCTV cameras watching over the entire prison with the capacity to zoom in so close the operators can read newsprint in an inmate's hands.
The pods are overlooked by a mezzanine walkway which is patrolled by officers including members of the immediate action team who are armed with gas-shooting guns.
This inmate has products including baby powder, shampoo and deodorant lined up on the top of his cubicle partition
In the event of trouble, CS canisters can also be deployed through 'gas hatches' at the same time as the rear door of the pod is locked and the ventilation system shut down. Just two canisters will incapacitate an entire pod.
The whole facility is controlled by a central command post from where all doors, alarms and other devices can be operated and monitored.
Perhaps contrary to public expectation, the open nature of the accommodation has led to fewer assaults.
Since HCC has opened there have been 4.33 inmate assaults per 100 inmates, compared with 16.88 per 100 inmates for other maximum security centres in NSW.
Inmate-on-inmate assault rates at both two rapid-build prisons have remained substantially lower than at other maximum-security prisons across the state.
Use of force incidents at HCC have been recorded 2.78 times per 100 inmates, compared with 11.69 per 100 inmates in the same six-month period and none of those incidents has involved chemical munitions.
HCC recorded a rate of 6.5 misconduct incidents per 100 inmates in June, compared with an average of 20 misconduct incidents per 100 inmates at other maximum security centres.
Inmate Charlie says he has seen less violence than in other prisons where had been used to being locked in a cell for up to 18 hours a day.
Inmates at HCC can learn skills such as upholstery. The products they make are used in other jails throughout NSW
The occupier of this cubicle plasters his wall with pictures of scantily clad women. Margot Robbie at far right is a new addition
'At the (MRRC) you're chucked out in the yard and doing nothing and then put back in your cell,' he says. 'There you remain until the next morning.
'We've got a lot more freedom here. We don't get locked in a cell of a night-time.
'We can work. We can use the phones at 9 o'clock at night. I can speak to my family almost anytime I like.'
Charlie says some maximum security inmates prefer to be locked up in their cells but he knows where he'd rather be.
'But personally, I do prefer it here,' he says. 'It is a lot more open. There is more freedom. I like the freedom of being able to get up and walk around when I like.
'Also having a private bathroom and shower is a big improvement as well.'
Living in a dormitory does have its challenges, including the odd loud snore from a neighbouring cubicle.
'Our pod's pretty quiet,' Charlie says. 'We've got one or two bad snorers. It does cause some issues occasionally.
'Obviously jail's jail. You're going to have certain issues. You'd think chucking 25 blokes together you'd get more dramas. I've seen almost none. It's a much more relaxed feel.'
Governor Richard Heycock served more than seven years in the Royal Australian Navy and has a background in Community Corrections, where he ran the Balunda-a diversionary program.
Balunda-a is a program for male offenders aged over 18 who work on a beef cattle property at Tabulam in far north-east NSW and Governor Heycock describes HCC as like Balunda-a 'on steroids'.
He credits his staff with 'buying-in' to the new model, which works in large part because 'everyone is busily active, doing things.'
'I've got a dedicated staff who want to be here,' he says. 'For me it is the culture of the staff that makes the difference. Them taking ownership of their roles.'
Every inmate at HCC is required to work. Prisoners can learn skills including metal work which they can use on the outside
Inmates have up to three hours each day for activities including access to the oval, running track, library and chapel
'The inmates don't feel like it's us and them situation all the time. The stats clearly show that we've got less inmate on inmate
