A violent brawl between inmates and visitors erupted inside a New South Wales prison when a routine visiting session went wrong.
The clash at Bathurst Correctional Centre, 210 kilometres west of Sydney, kicked off on the morning of February 8 and left one prison officer hospitalised with a broken arm.
Shocking footage obtained by Nine News showed one male inmate walking across the visitor’s room towards another prisoner sitting with loved ones.
The pair, aged 29 and 36, then allegedly started throwing a series of punches.
The altercation escalated quickly, drawing in three other visitors, two women aged 28 and 32, and a man aged 32.
The male visitor was seen allegedly joining in on the attack when the two inmates failed to break it up, before five corrections officers were forced to step in.
A third inmate also tried to break up the brawl before he was dragged away by a guard.
One corrections officer ended up being crushed as the fight carried on, leaving him in hospital with a broken arm.
Public Service Association president Nicole Jess said it was lucky more people, especially women and children visiting, weren’t hurt.
‘We’ve got alert systems that are in place, but we don’t know what the visitors are doing and then they come in and they know someone that we just don’t have the alerts on, and something like that erupts,’ she said.
Police have charged the 32-year-old woman with assault and affray.
The 32-year-old man and 28-year-old woman have also been charged with affray, along with the two inmates.
All five appeared in Bathurst Local Court this week.
Corrective Services NSW has been contacted for comment.