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Juvenile justice guard has anxious wait after young detainee allegedly spat blood in his face – Daily Telegraph 16/01/2019

  16 January 2019

A teenage detainee ­involved in an attack on three officers allegedly chewed the inside of his mouth and spat blood in one of the juvenile guard’s face. The officer now has a nervous wait on test ­results for serious diseases.

A juvenile Justice guard faces a nervous wait on test ­results for serious diseases after a teenage detainee ­involved in an attack on three officers allegedly chewed the inside of his mouth and spat blood in one’s face.

The inmate who allegedly unleashed on the officers in Western Sydney’s Cobham Juvenile Justice Centre on Tuesday night was one of the system’s high-classification A1B detainees, the most problematic in the state.

The alleged incident comes days after The Daily Telegraph revealed increasingly embattled juvenile justice officers were demanding a high-risk unit to put the state’s worst kids in as the violent teens continued to assault staff without any fear of reprisal.

Correctives sources told The Daily Telegraph exposure to the blood of inmates caused enormous angst among officers. Apart from their own health fears, the practice also often impacts intimate relations with their partners while they wait for results.

In the latest Cobham incident, two officers were bitten and punched by the detainee, while the third had blood spat in his face. It is believed the young male bit the inside of this cheek in an attempt to draw blood. The officer is ­expected to now wait months for test ­results which will ­clarify whether he contracted a bloodborne illness, such as hepatitis B and C or HIV, from the inmate.

In a statement, a Juvenile Justice spokesman said it was investigating and police had been notified.

“Juvenile Justice is providing ongoing support for the staff involved and is conducting a review of the incident,” the spokesman said.

Cobham staff held a stop-work meeting yesterday morning — part of an ongoing Public Service Association campaign to have the “high-risk” units ­installed. ɫ������general secretary Stewart Little invited corrections minister David Elliott and Juvenile Justice acting executive director Steven Southgate to “come and spend a shift with us at Cobham”.

“Officers … face daily violence, including spitting, punching and biting, because high-risk offenders are able to move within the general population,” Mr Little said. “We need … special units that can manage high-risk ­det­ainees who present an acute threat to themselves and others.”

Both Mr Elliott and Mr Southgate have said they would consider the units but want a more detailed proposal.