There was minimal disruption to Wagga Local Court on Friday with prison officers walking off jobs in protest of the decision to upgrade a manslaughter charge laid upon a colleaguein 2019 to a murder charge.
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The Public Services Association [PSA] Union sub-branch Prison Officer's Vocational Branch organised the industrial action in a bid to combat the charge laid upon a former officer after an incident resulting in the alleged shooting death of Wirradurji man Dwayne Johnstone.
According to the PSA two officers from Lismore's Court Escort Security Unit had been escorting Mr Johnstone to hospital in 2019 when he allegedly attempted to escape them.
One of the officers, who can't be named, drew his weapon and fired it, resulting in Mr Johnstone passing away.
The matter went before the Coroners Court in 2021, with the officer pleading not-guilty, where the judge referred it to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the officer was subsequently charged with manslaughter.
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The DPP has since determined the officer's charges will now be upgraded to murder three years after the event.
The statewide stoppage affected all areas of the correctional system, involving more than 5000 workers.
PSA Prison Officer's Vocational Branch Industrial Officer David McCauley said Wagga's court cells were not operational on Friday during the 24-hour statewide strike which ended this morning at 6am.
"They weren't taking any inmates from public jails to any NSW court locations," Mr McCauley said.
PSA general secretary Stewart Little said the union is in full support of the officer and is not in favour of either charge and certainly not an upgraded murder charge handed down three years after the event.
A spokesperson for the NSW Department of Communities and Justice said there was "minimal disruption to matters at Wagga Local Court because of the strike."
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