Ятала түрмесі: тарихы мен қазіргі жағдайы

Prison in Northfield, South Australia

Yatala Labour Prison is a high security men's prison located in the north eastern part of the northern Adelaide suburb Northfield, South Australia. It was built in 1854 to enable prisoners to work at Dry Creek, quarrying rock for roads and construction. Originally known as The Stockade of Dry Creek or just The Stockade, it acquired its current name from a local Kaurna word relating to inundation by water, which was used for the Hundred of Yatala. The prison has been expanded many times but still has functioning buildings that date to the 1850s. It remains Adelaide's main male prison and although it was scheduled to be closed by 2011, it has remained open due to the Global Financial Crisis leading to a lack of funding for a replacement prison.

Yatala prison, originally called "The Stockade" or "The Stockade of Dry Creek" when established in 1854, was named after the cadastral Hundred of Yatala. The word is presumed to refer to the flooded state of the plain either side of Dry Creek after heavy rain, the Kaurna name referring to water or inundation. The prison was renamed Yatala Labour Prison sometime before 1860. It is known as a labour prison by virtue of its vast industries complex and the use of convict labour in construction. It is sited in Adelaide's northern suburb of Northfield, north of Adelaide's central business district and between Grand Junction Road and Dry Creek. The prison sits on an escarpment of the Para Fault Block overlooking the Adelaide plains. Dry Creek, a watercourse usually dry in summer, flows through a deep gully immediately north of the prison boundary. It features outcrops of exposed pre Cambrian rocks that were once extensively quarried as part of prison activity.

For the first five years of South Australian settlement there was no permanent prison. Prisoners were kept locked in irons on board until its sailing in 1837, and in temporary jails subsequently. 1841 saw the first permanent prison built in Adelaide, with the Adelaide Gaol on the banks of the River Torrens, the building of which severely strained the new colony's finances. In the 19th century, incarceration in South Australia was seen as a punitive more than preventative measure. The labour of prisoners was used for public works and hard labour seen as an integral part of imprisonment. In this light, Charles Simeon Hare (member of the legislative council) wrote an 1853 letter to the Adelaide Observer, advocating prisoners be usefully employed, and further that a reserve beside Dry Creek could be used for this purpose. The reserve had an abundant supply of stone that prisoners could convert into building and road material. September that year saw Hare move, in the council, that £5,000 be set aside to enable a prison be constructed next to a quarry, whether at Dry Creek or elsewhere. This would enable the labour of the prisoners to remunerate the country.

Twenty five prisoners were sent to the Dry Creek site to work in the quarries in July 1854, living at night in an iron house. Dry Creek prison was officially declared a gaol on 10 August 1854 and an act then passed commuting sentences, formerly of transportation to New South Wales or Van Diemen's Land, into imprisonment with hard labour, though transport to the latter had been stopped by the Imperial Government in 1852. The Prison began as an iron house with surrounding palisade and became known as The Stockade, a name retained in 2007 by the adjacent Stockade Botanical Park. Hare requested construction of a stone building, and by October 1854 this was completed using locally quarried bluestone, with accommodation for 60 prisoners. In its early years rock cracking, hard labour and solitary confinement were the notable features of life at the prison. It was seen that hard worked prisoners would not wish to return to the prison, with solitary confinement giving them time to reflect on past misdeeds. From inception prisoners main task was the breaking of one cubic yard of rock per day. Until the middle of the 20th century the prisons department's philosophy remained punitive with much reliance on obedience to rules and regulations. The first batch of 24 convicts was sent to the prison from Adelaide gaol on 9 February 1855 wearing the characteristic broad arrow pattern prison clothes of the time, and the first escape from the prison took place October 1855 with 8 escapees. The prisoners were captured, chained in solitary confinement within the prison, then subsequently punished with 50 lashes for the escape and other disciplinary issues.

Prisoners moved from rock breaking to goods production with trades including boot making, tailoring, tin smithing, blacksmithing, carpentry and masonry. There was public opposition as the free labour of prisoners was seen as unfair competition against private industry, consequently Government departments used most products. During the 1960s small industries were established north of the prison walls with facilities for spray painting, sheet metalwork and brick making. A decision was made in 1968 to build a new industries complex. Construction was from 1977 to 1982, with the complex opening in November 1984. Although a high security prison, there have been some significant prisoner escapes. Four prisoners escaped in 1930, and lead the police on a car chase with whom they were involved in a shootout. After escaping into school grounds they were recaptured, with two of the police injured. Six prisoners escaped from the jail in 1979 after an attempted mass break out by thirty. A wall that was under repair and covered in scaffolding was used as part of the escape, but all six escapees were soon recaptured. There was poor morale amongst inmates in the 1980s leading to a major prison riot. Sixty prisoners went on a rampage on 22 March 1983, and lit fires, destroying the roof of A division. The government saw this as an opportunity to restructure Yatala, rather than simply repairing the damage, and on 21 December announced that A division would be demolished. The former Enfield Council strongly objected due to the building's historic value but demolition began on 6 February 1984.

Alan Bond businessman, spent a brief time in Yatala during his fraud trial in the early 1990s. John Bunting serial killer, ringleader in the Snowtown murders, and his accomplices Robert Wagner, James Vlassakis, and Mark Haydon. Bevan Spencer von Einemconvicted murderer and suspected serial murderer. Jean Eric Gassyderegistered Sydney psychiatrist who shot dead South Australia's head of mental health in October 2002. David Hicksthe Australian Guantánamo Bay detainee convicted by US military tribunal of providing material support for terrorism. Hicks was released 29 December 2007. James William Millerserved six consecutive life sentences for murder in relation to the Truro Murders. Died of cancer in 2008. Bradley John Murdochconvicted murderer of Peter Falconio, was held briefly in the prison before being extradited. Rupert Maxwell (Max) Stuart (1932–2014)Arrernte man whose 1959 conviction for murder led to a Royal Commission and a 2002 film, paroled in 1973. Rodney ClavellHe had worked as a former prison officer at Yatala and Mobilong prisons in the early 2000s, before turning to a life of crime. He took his own life during a siege after being pursued by police in 2014.