No failings of security practices had been found to contribute to a December incident in Canberra's jail in which one prisoner used a shiv to slash the face and finger of another, inflicting injuries requiring 54 stitches.
The critical incident at the Alexander Maconochie Centre, which was detailed in a report tabled to the ACT Legislative Assembly, occurred when corrections officers were supervising medication outside the cell block.
The report was compiled by the office of the ACT's independent Inspector of Correctional Services.
The identities of the perpetrator and the victim were not detailed in the report but both men were described as "medium-security" detainees serving "moderately long sentences for violent theft-related offences".
Immediately after the slashing occurred, the offender walked to the entrance to an adjoining cell block and yelled through the glass: "I got him, I got him".
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The victim's injuries required overnight treatment at the Canberra Hospital, but he was released back into the prison population the following day. ACT police were called and conducted an investigation.
The victim had been involved in "a number of violent and aggressive incidents" in the prison, while the perpetrator had "also been disciplined for violent incidents ... including assaults on other detainees".
The shiv was not described in detail except that it was "made from everyday items used by detainees".
"Unfortunately, it is not feasible to remove all possible items that could be used to make a weapon," the report stated.
