A male inmate at ‘s largest prison has been found naked in the cell of his female lover, who was also being held in the same jail.
The prisoner managed to leave his unit at Clarence Correctional Centre near Grafton in northern NSW on Saturday and get with his girlfriend to attempt an end-of-year tryst.
The privately-run prison is a maximum and minimum security facility for male and female offenders with 1,700 beds which opened in July 2020.
Daily Mail understands the male inmate climbed two fences and crossed an exercise yard to make his way into his partner’s cell.
A male inmate at ‘s largest prison has been found naked in the cell of his female lover. The prisoner managed to get out of his unit at Clarence Correctional Centre near Grafton in northern NSW on Saturday and make his way into that of his girlfriend. Stock image
The couple then barricaded themselves inside until prison officers deployed a chemical agent and were able to extract the male inmate.
The prisoner was naked and one source described his state as ‘ready to go’.
A spokeswoman for Clarence Correctional Centre, run by UK-based Serco, said staff had responded to an incident in which two inmates attempted to prevent entry into a cell.
‘A tactical plan was executed promptly with chemical agent deployed,’ the spokeswoman said.
‘Responding officers safely secured the inmates. No staff or inmates were injured during the incident.
‘The inmates involved – one male and one female – are known to be in a relationship.
‘An investigation into the incident has commenced.’
The escapade is understood to have been over within six minutes and it was not known if the pair had time to become intimate.
Clarence Correctional Centre (above) is a privately-run prison for female offenders with 1,700 beds which opened in July 2020. It has maximum and minimum security sections
Users of a Facebook page popular with serving and former prison officers made light of the incident, as well as drawing attention to security concerns.
‘The best thing is if she’s pregnant our future careers are secured!!’ one wrote on The Last Governor’s page.
‘Well he had a happy New Year,’ wrote another.
Other comments included ‘Neither bars, locks, fences or motion cameras can get in the way of true love’ and ‘You just can’t make this s*** up’.
In September, an officer at Clarence was allegedly struck repeatedly in the head by an inmate while other prisoners cheered him on.
Clarence is one of three NSW prisons operated by the private sector.
Junee Correctional Centre has been run by the US-owned GEO Group since it opened in 1993 but the company’s contract will not be renewed when it expires in 2025.
Parklea Correctional Centre is managed by MTC-Broadspectrum.
READ MORE: The shocking truth inside Parklea prison – the privately-run maximum security facility becoming ‘s most notorious jail thanks to stabbings, drugs and contraband goods
