Villawood security ignored warnings

Assylum seekers riot at Villawood Detention Centre and set buildings alight. SMH NEWS 21 April 2011 Photo: Wolter Peeters

Set on fire … asylum seekers rioted at Villawood Detention Centre in April. Photo: Wolter Peeters

NSW police have slammed security management at the Villawood detention centre, with a senior officer revealing he had warned of problems before the April riots, but he was told ”it would never happen”.

A parliamentary inquiry was also told immigration staff and the private management company Serco were left without police help on the night riots turned ugly, because NSW Police said it was not their jurisdiction and the Australian Federal Police said they did not have the resources.

Fire caused millions of dollars damage during 11-day riots involving around 100 detainees.

The inquiry heard of complete confusion among immigration and Serco managers as the violence broke out on April 20, and that Serco was unaware that NSW Police had no legal authority to enter the premises.

The Assistant Commissioner, Frank Mennilli, told politicians Villawood was not secure, was not appropriate for difficult asylum seekers and he was concerned at Serco’s role.

State police had held a training scenario for Villawood staff in August 2010 where he attempted to raise the potential risk of a fire.

”I was told the scenario was unrealistic and would never happen,” he said.

On April 19, the day before the riots, at a meeting with the Immigration Department in Canberra, Mr Mennilli again raised concerns about Villawood, including his belief police didn’t have legal authority to enter the detention centre and the ease with which detainees could climb on the roof. Despite this, Serco managers at Villawood said they were unaware before the night of April 20 that NSW Police would not assist.

”The levels of violence witnessed on that night … were not contemplated when we signed the contract in 2009,” Serco’s managing director, Chris Manning, said. Mr Mennilli criticised the Immigration Department for moving suspected ring leaders from the March Christmas Island riots to Villawood, where there had been three escapes from the Blaxland compound.

”I don’t believe the Villawood detention facility has the capability to be secure,” he said.

He also criticised the department’s deputy secretary, John Moorhouse, who stood on a box to talk to rooftop protesters through a manhole, for setting a precedent that would make it difficult for any future police negotiators to deal with detainees.

The department secretary, Andrew Metcalfe, told a Senate hearing in May that Mr Moorhouse’s move to tell the three protesters on the roof they wouldn’t be sent to Silverwater jail had avoided the use of force by police and deserved commendation.

But Mr Mennilli said yesterday ”any future negotiations would be hampered by the end result … and agreements made with individuals”. The Australian Federal Police Commander, Clive Murray, agreed Villawood was not secure.

Commander Murray said police had decided not to force ”passive protesters” off the roof, because it would be dangerous, and no law had been broken.

The legal doubt over police access to Villawood had still not been addressed, the inquiry was told. Nine detainees faced court in Sydney yesterday over charges stemming from the fires.

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