Casuarina Prison guards hurt as juvenile inmates riot and climb on roof

Six prison guards have been injured after a child hit an officer with a makeshift weapon and stole her keys before sparking a massive riot.

The juvenile detainees were being held in Unit 18 youth detention facility within Casuarina Prison, a maximum security prison in Perth, at 4pm on Saturday.

Two children were outside of their cells for recreation when one of them used a makeshift weapon – made from the metal of their bed frame – to hit a Youth Custodial Officer in the head and steal her keys.

A group of 13 juvenile inmates at Perth’s maximum security Casuarina Prison rioted after two of them attacked a guard and stole her keys

The pair then freed 11 other children from their cells, leading to the riot.

‘The 13 detainees climbed rooftops of Unit 18 and two nearby buildings, damaging infrastructure and throwing debris at staff,’ a Western Australian Department of Justice spokesman said.

‘A security cordon was put in place and prisoners at Casuarina secured during the incident.

‘The detainees progressively surrendered to officers during the night, the last doing so at 2.15am.’

Six prison officers were injured during the incident, including one who suffered a broken foot.

Three buildings were damaged and one flooded after the fire sprinkler system was activated.

Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan said the conduct of the detainees was ‘appalling.’

‘They’ll suffer the consequences, they’ll suffer the charges and so forth,’ Mr McGowan said during a media conference on Sunday.

‘When they do these sorts of things it’s unacceptable, shocking, it’s appalling.

‘I have no time for it, I think the vast majority of the problem has no time for it either.’

At least one of the group of 13 is over the age of 18, having been sentenced when they were a juvenile offender.

The youths are being held at Casuarina while repairs are carried out at Banksia Hill Youth Detention Centre, where accommodation was damaged in riots earlier this year.

After 13 of the juvenile inmates climbed onto the prison’s roof guards were not able to fully restore order for around 10 hours

WA Premier Mark McGowan labelled the behaviour of inmates ‘appalling’ and said they would suffer consequences for their actions

‘We’re spending a lot of money to beef-up security and so forth, because they just destroy their cells … when they’re given the opportunity to go and engage in some recreation, they attack people,’ Mr McGowan said.

‘That’s the problem we face.’

The Premier again indicated his government will try and have laws brought in by the middle of the year to ensure offenders are moved to adult facilities once they reach 18.

In a separate riot in late February, a prison guard at Banksia Hill Youth Detention Centre had his skull fractured.

Another large-scale riot also took place there on New Year’s Eve, with two buildings damaged by fire.

There was also a ‘disturbance’ at Acacia Prison in late January, which also required the assistance of firefighters.