A prisoner climbed onto the roof at the Rolleston Prison for the second time in two months.

Rolleston Prison Acting General Manager Russell Watkins said staff responded immediately when a prisoner climbed onto the roof of a single-storey, low security unit and began damaging property at approximately 3.40pm on Sunday.

“The prisoner was contained within the secure perimeter of the prison’s unit at all times. There was no threat to the wider security of the prison and no threat to public safety at any time.

“Staff responded immediately to contain the incident and did an excellent job calmly de-escalating the situation. The prisoner voluntarily climbed down off the roof approximately one hour later. There were no injuries to the prisoner or staff.

“The prisoner has been relocated. A review of the incident will be carried out and the prisoner will be charged through our internal misconduct system. The incident has also been referred to Police” Watkins said.

On Thursday April 18 there was another incident involving a prisoner climbing onto the roof of a separate low security unit at Rolleston Prison.

Watkins said “our role has expanded in recent years as we find ourselves having to manage people with significant behavioural and mental health issues, and our frontline staff work with some of New Zealand’s most complex and challenging people.

This can be extremely challenging for our frontline staff who do an incredible job working with people who can behave unpredictably and act without warning.”