Lithgow Correctional Centre

Lithgow Correctional Centre
Location Marrangaroo, New South Wales
Coordinates 33°25′47″S 150°6′59″E / 33.42972°S 150.11639°E / -33.42972; 150.11639Coordinates: 33°25′47″S 150°6′59″E / 33.42972°S 150.11639°E / -33.42972; 150.11639
Status Operational
Security class Maximum (male)
Opened 1990
Managed by Corrective Services NSW

Lithgow Correctional Centre, an Australian maximum security prison for males, is located adjacent to the Great Western Highway at Marrangaroo, near Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia, 152 km (94 mi) west of Sydney. The facility is operated by Corrective Services NSW, an agency of the Department of Attorney General and Justice, of the Government of New South Wales. The centre accepts felons charged and convicted under New South Wales and/or Commonwealth legislation.


History

Data obtained from Corrective Services NSW by The Sydney Morning Herald revealed that between July 2006 and May 2009, 67 assaults occurred at the centre, one of which was considered serious.[1]

Following the 2008 discovery of a prison drug ring orchestrated from inside Lithgow Correctional Centre by Bassam Hamzy through use of a mobile phone,[2][3][4] prison officials sought approval for the introduction of a trial of mobile phone jamming technology. The trial began on 24 September 2013,[5] and has been extended to 1 November 2018.[6]

In 2011, prison officials announced a trial ban of smoking in the centre, impacting both inmates and officers. Nicotine patches were issued to inmates as a substitute. Prisoners were permitted to smoke in some designated outdoor areas, but were not permitted to smoke in their cells or inside jail facilities. The trial was due to commence in early 2012, for a period of six months.[7]

Notable prisoners

  • John Wayne Glover - serial killer (1932–2005)
  • Andrew Kalajzich[8] - a former millionaire hotel owner, jailed for 25 years for the 1986 murder of his wife
  • Milton Orkopoulos[9] - a disgraced former politician jailed in 2008 for 13 years and eight months for child sex and drugs offences
  • Keith Schreiber[10] - convicted of the stabbing murder of Jack van Krevel in his home at Albion Park
  • Neddy Smith
  • Gary Murphy - one of five men sentenced to life imprisonment for the gang rape and murder of Sydney nurse Anita Cobby
  • Rodney Francis Cameron - sentenced to life imprisonment, never to be released, for the murder of four victims (and allegedly eight victims)

Visitor access

Public transport to the centre is available from Lithgow railway station. Lithgow Buslines run buses along the Great Western Highway from Lithgow to Bathurst, some of which stop near Lithgow Correctional Centre. Other special bus services run directly to the centre.

Parking is available for visitors, and signs direct vehicles to the centre from the Great Western Highway. Visitors require bookings to see inmates, which can only be made on weekdays. Strict restrictions and security checks apply to all visitors.

See also

Further reading

  • Lithgow Correctional Centre: Socio–economic impact assessment (1998) Department of Corrective Services

References

  1. ↑ "NSW's most violent prisons" (PDF). The Sydney Morning Herald. June 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  2. ↑ Lawrence, Kara (4 December 2008). "Cops hit Middle Eastern drug gangs run by jailed baron". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  3. ↑ Lawrence, Kara (5 December 2008). "The inside story of how the prison drug ring was broken". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  4. ↑ Lawrence, Kara; Barrett, David (5 December 2008). "Killer to be charged over prison plot". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  5. ↑ "NSW jail trials phone-jamming technology". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 24 September 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  6. ↑ "Fact Sheet: Mobile phone jamming trial at Lithgow Correctional Centre" (pdf). NSW Corrective Services. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  7. ↑ Hills, Brenden (12 June 2011). "Prisoners and guards to be banned from smoking under a radical trial". The Sunday Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  8. ↑ Morrir, Mark (25 January 2012). "Killer Kalajzich to be released from jail". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  9. ↑ McCarthy, Joanne (7 August 2010). "Orkopoulos staffer sues over sex MP". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  10. ↑ Connolly, Ellen (10 February 2003). "I hated my father, I wanted him dead". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  • Corrective Services NSW - Lithgow Official Website
  • "Proposed Mobile Phone Jamming Trial at Lithgow Correctional Centre" (PDF). Fact Sheet. Corrective Services NSW. July 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2012.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.