Restraint is only ever used as a last resort in situations where there is a threat to an inmate or staff, said Corrections Minister Robyn Lambley.īut at that point he was not a threat to anyone, said NT Children’s Commissioner Dr Howard Bath. READ: MINISTER TAKES A BOW AS PRISONERS CHEER HIM ON The boy had been classed as at-risk and needed to be dressed in a non-rip gown, Justice Peter Barr ruled, and was apparently a known “spitter”. The guard pins him by the head as another guard pulls off his shorts and underpants, then holds him down with his knees across his naked buttocks.Īfterwards the boy is seen stalking around the cell and throwing his torn-up mattress at the CCTV camera in visible distress. It shows three guards entering a small cell in Alice Springs, taking the child by the neck and turning his head away before dropping him facedown onto a mattress. An image captured from the shocking videoĪBC broadcast the 2010 footage this week after a Supreme Court justice upheld a prior ruling that the guards did not use unreasonable or excessive force.
