Inmate is stabbed and two others are left with serious head injuries after a violent prison brawl – with staff forced to lockdown the jail with gas
- One man is in a serious condition and two more more stabbed in jailhouse fight
- Prison officers had to use gas to secure the wing and calm the situation
- Two of the injured have been airlifted to Westmead Hospital for treatment
- It mirrors an almost identical brawl at the same Lithgow jail on May 31 last year
A high security prison has been put in lockdown after one inmate was stabbed and two others suffered serious injuries in a jailhouse brawl.
Prison officers at Lithgow Correctional Centre reportedly had to use gas to break the fight up before they could access the injured and secure the wing around 1pm on Tuesday.
A 35-year-old man was allegedly stabbed in the attack and two others suffered major head injuries.
Lithgow Correctional Centre (pictured) has been put in lockdown after one inmate was stabbed and two others suffered serious injuries in a jailhouse brawl
Two of the injured at the country NSW prison have since been flown to hospital with one man suffering stab wounds and another said to have injuries to his jaw.
The incident comes just a year after an almost identical brawl at the same prison which also left a 35 year old man stabbed and three prisoners with head wounds.
The incident comes just a year after an almost identical earlier brawl (pictured) at the same prison which also left a 35 year old man stabbed and three prisoners with head wounds
The 2020 mass brawl broke out on the prison’s exercise oval around 10am on May 31, and saw up to 12 prisoners allegedly involved in the fight.
An investigation has now been launched into Tuesday’s violence. The prison, about two hours west of Sydney, beyond the Blue Mountains, refused to comment when contacted by Daily Mail Australia.
NSW Police confirmed the brawl and said two injured men were airlifted to Westmead Hospital in Sydney’s West.
A 35 year old man was allegedly stabbed in the attack and two others suffered major head injuries, according to Seven News (stock image).
‘Emergency services attended the facility on the Great Western Highway at Marrangaroo following reports two inmates had been injured as a result of an inmate brawl,’ a NSW Police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Two men were treated at the scene before both being flown to Westmead Hospital. The injuries to both men are not considered life-threatening.
‘Detectives from Chifley Police District have commenced an investigation in relation to the incident. We have no further details on the injuries or the cause at this time.
‘We don’t know if there is any connection with the incident last year.’
Lithgow Correctional Centre is home to mass murderers, organised crime bosses and serial rapists.
Lithgow Correctional Centre (pictured after the 2020 incident) is home to mass murderers, organised crime bosses and serial rapists.
It is known in the prison system, along with Goulburn, as the place where high-profile or other high-risk inmates are sent to serve out long sentences.
Lithgow opened in December 1999 and has five units housing 65 inmates in cells which can accommodate two men but usually hold one. A smaller unit houses non-association and segregation prisoners.
A typical cell has two bunk beds, a toilet, shower, sink, shelves and table. There is a steel mirror and alarm or ‘knock-up’ button.
In some sections inmates are locked in cages just to make phone calls. Signal jamming technology makes the use of mobiles impossible and a roof-mounted radar dish scans the sky for drones.
Prison officers are unarmed but there is a rifle in the watch tower that looks over the entire compound.