Mount Eden Prisons consists of two separate facilities in the Auckland, New Zealand suburb of Mount Eden — the Mount Eden Prison and the Mount Eden Corrections Facility.

History

The original Mount Eden prison was a military

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built in 1856. It became Auckland's main prison when the old city jail on the corner of Queen and Victoria Streets was demolished in 1865. The stone wall and the foundations were completed in 1872, the building proper was commenced in 1882 and finished in 1917. Intended to house 220 prisoners, it was designed by Pierre Finch Martineau Burrows and resembles Dartmoor Prison in England. Its design consisted of wings radiating from the centre like the spokes of a wheel. This allowed for control from the centre and "a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind", an application of the

panopticon The panopticon is a type of institutional building and a system of control designed by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The concept of the design is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be o ...

prison design theories of Jeremy Bentham. Early prisoners were used as labourers to quarry stone for use in road construction around Auckland, including the quarries at Maungawhau / Mount Eden and

Auckland Grammar School Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

. The prison has a colourful history. Prisoners were executed there and it was the site of New Zealand's last execution, in 1957 when

Walter James Bolton Walter James Bolton (13 August 1888 – 18 February 1957) was a New Zealand farmer who was found guilty of poisoning his wife. He is known as the last person to be executed in New Zealand before the abolition of capital punishment. Bolton was bo ...

was hanged for poisoning his wife Beatrice. There were few escapes but a song was written about one famous escaper, George Wilder. In 1963, he escaped and was free for 172 days, during which time he travelled and committed 40 crimes. Pat Boone's song ' Speedy Gonzales' was rewritten by the Howard Morrison Quartet and became "George The Wilder Colonial Boy". There was a major riot on 20 and 21 July 1965. Prisoners rioted for 33 hours after a prison guard caught two prisoners trying to escape. New Zealand Special Air Service troopers and

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Gunners were brought in to help quell the mayhem and reinforce NZ Corrections staff and NZ Police officers. Chaos ensued as prisoners burnt much of the prison, including the prison records. The riot was a sensational event for the pupils and staff of the two neighbouring boys' secondary schools, St Peter's College and

. The old prison has been given a "Category I" classification by Heritage New Zealand.

Privatisation

In July 2000, the prison was kept in control of the Department of Corrections and a new building transferred to the control of

Australasian Correctional Management Australasian Correctional Management (ACM) was a private Australian company that existed from 1991 to 2003 and was owned by American company Wackenhut. History From 1998 until 2003 ACM was responsible for running at least six immigration detenti ...

Limited (later Global Expertise in Outsourcing NZ Ltd) and became New Zealand's first privately run prison. It was renamed the Auckland Central Remand Prison. However, the Labour Party was opposed to the privatisation of prisons, and in July 2005 put the prison back under the control of the Department of Corrections. Mount Eden Prisons protest 2

In June 2007 it was announced that a new six-storey prison building and a four-storey accommodation block would be built on the southern side of the building by 2011, adding 450 beds. The Auckland Central Remand Facility was then amalgamated into a new Mt Eden Corrections Facility. The plan was for the old prison to be converted to administrative space, in accordance with its heritage classification. To date it has not happened and lays dormant. The redevelopment included a secure gatehouse, a visitor centre and a multilevel carpark added to the structure. Tunnels link the different sections. The

barbed wire A close-up view of a barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is t ...

around the complex disappeared and was replaced by high and secure walls. There was some criticism of the proposed height of the new prison building, which at up to is visible from the nearby motorway viaduct and towers over the surrounding area, which has a building height limit. Vocal opponents included the former Mayor of Auckland,

John Banks John Banks or Bankes may refer to: Politics and law *Sir John Banks, 1st Baronet (1627–1699), English merchant and Member of Parliament * John Banks (American politician) (1793–1864), U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania *John Gray Banks (188 ...

. In May 2010, the National-led government decided that contract management would again be implemented at Auckland Central Remand Prison. The contract was awarded to

Serco Serco Group plc is a British company with headquarters based in Hook, Hampshire, England. Serco primarily derives income as a contractor for the provision of government services, most prominently in the sectors of health, transport, justice, i ...

, a British company that runs prisons in several different countries. On 16 July 2015, footage of "fight clubs" within the prison emerged online and was reported by

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...

. Serco was heavily criticized for not investigating until after the footage was screened. On 24 July, Serco's contract to run the Mount Eden prison was revoked and operation was given back to the New Zealand Department of Corrections. Serco was ordered to pay $8 million to the New Zealand government as a result of problems at Mount Eden Prison while it was under Serco's management.

Notable inmates

* Roy Courlander, British-Nazi collaborator * Robert Wallath (1874–1960), highwayman from New Plymouth * George Wilder * Juliet Hulme (a.k.a. Anne Perry), convicted for the murder of Honorah Parker in the Parker-Hulme murder case * Kim Dotcom (born Kim Schmitz), founder of now-defunct

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Megaupload, and another

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service called

Mega Mega or MEGA may refer to: Science * mega-, a metric prefix denoting 106 * Mega (number), a certain very large integer in Steinhaus–Moser notation * "mega-" a prefix meaning "large" that is used in taxonomy * Gravity assist, for ''Moon-Earth ...

The fall of the house of Dotcom (23 Nov 2014)
' *

Christopher John Lewis Christopher John Lewis (7 September 1964 – 23 September 1997) was a New Zealand criminal who made an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II in 1981. He planned later attempts at assassinating other British royal family ...

, who attempted to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II in 1981. *

, executed in 1957 for murdering his wife, and the last man to be hanged in New Zealand. *

Edward Te Whiu Edward Thomas Te Whiu (27 February 1935 – 18 August 1955) was a notable New Zealand criminal and murderer. Of Māori descent, he identified with the Nga Puhi iwi. He was born in Waipapakauri, Northland, New Zealand, in 1935. Te Whiu was ...

, executed in 1955 for murdering an elderly woman during a robbery. *

William Alfred Bayly William Alfred Bayly (15 July 1906 – 20 July 1934) was a New Zealand farmer and convicted murderer. He was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 15 July 1906. In October 1928, Bayly's cousin, 17-year-old Elsie Walker found dead in the bushes w ...

, executed in 1934 for murdering two of his neighbors.

Notable staff

References

External links