Townsville Correctional Centre searched following officer injury

Townsville Correctional Centre was placed into lockdown this morning while officers undertake a thorough search of the centre following an incident yesterday when officers were injured, potentially by a needle.

The officers were taken to Townsville Hospital yesterday afternoon as a precaution after receiving scratches during an interaction with a prisoner who appeared to have a needle secreted in his clothing.

It is unknown if the scratches were from the needle, however every precaution was taken to ensure the officers’ safety.

Today’s search encompasses all areas of both the men’s and women’s prisons, and is expected to take some hours.

Prisoners will remain locked down for the duration of the search.

Searches of this nature are standard procedure whenever there are concerns that prisoners have contraband of a dangerous nature.

Officer safety is our top priority, and contraband makes prisons more dangerous for our staff, visitors to the prison and the prisoners themselves.