30 Jul 2011

Police committed to tracking down prison guards who offend

3:27 pm on 30 July 2011

The man who led the investigation into a prison officer convicted of drug offending says police will continue to work closely with the Corrections Department to track down such offenders.

A former unit manager at Rimutaka Prison, Jeffrey Reid, was sentenced on Friday to 12-months home detention after he admitted growing cannabis and being part of a conspiracy to supply the drug in the jail.

Detective Inspector Darrin Thomson says the hearing ends two years of hard work by the police and the Corrections Department and should reassure the public that such offending is taken seriously by the authorities.

He says Reid's sentence sends a clear message to those in positions of power that they are subject to the same rules as everyone else.