Prison officer arrested at Mobilong

Police have arrested a corrections officer for allegedly taking a prohibited item into a buffer zone around the prison.

Prison officer arrested at Mobilong
Police have arrested a corrections officer at Mobilong Prison. Photo: Peri Strathearn.

A corrections officer at Mobilong Prison has been arrested for possessing a prohibited item.

Police arrested the 42-year-old from Murray Bridge on Thursday after he was allegedly found in possession of the item just outside the prison.

They did not say what they had allegedly found.

Mobile phones, cigarettes, prescription drugs and alcohol are among the items people are not allowed to possess on prison grounds without a lawful excuse, according to Correctional Services regulations.

Police then searched the man's home, where they allegedly found a small amount of cannabis – for which he was fined – and seized a gun.

He was charged with firearms offences as well as for possession of the prohibited item.

It was the first time anyone had been charged under new rules about the buffer zones around prisons.

The law was changed on June 3 to include the offence of possession in a buffer zone: anywhere immediately around a prison, including in the car park.

The maximum penalty for the offence is five years in prison.


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