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bombshell · #1 05-23-2011, 12:42 AM

Has anyone visited Long Bay? I know from the website that visiting is Saturday and Sunday but does anyone know how long visits are and if there is much onsite parking? I called the number but it was closed, will try again tomorrow but I always value the insight from those who have walked before me

*Becky2* · #2 05-23-2011, 01:21 AM

Yes I've done LongBay - 2 units. My hubby started in Wing 10 which is crappy. There is parking but not a whole lot. Having said that I always managed to find a spot because I went early. You park out front and walk in through a gate (showing drivers license for some reason). For 10 you walk up the hill to this forbidding sort of sandstone wall (old) and walk along to your right. There is a strange little verandah type set up sticking out the side and inside that is a waiting room. You have to do the finger scan thing and they are hopeless at using the computers (I often felt like leaning over the counter and doing it for them!). There is also the iris thingy. Then you get taken in to this huge long narrow room with lots of tables screwed to the floor with stools screwed around them. There is are vending machines at one end. The noise is incredible! Kids running everywhere. Not very nice. That's 10. The other wing (3 I think) was great (well as great as a prison visits space can be). You queued up outside a big gate (no cover so need an umbrella for shade or rain). You then slowly enter a room where you hand over your things and get a key. You then go outside and wait again until your name is called when you are body scanned. You are then free to enter a sort of beer garden type place (without the beer

where there are outdoor tables and benches to sit at. You can get drinks and there are vending machines. You can walk around. Its much more laid back and private.

The visiting hours/days are weird. Well they used to be. They swap back and forth between Saturday and Sunday and between morning and afternoon from week to week. Very confusing.

Hope your fella is not in 10 (although that's where they often put them when they first arrive until they suss them out. Hubby said some of the cells didn't even have windows! the guys used to put bits of cardboard in them to keep the rain out in winter). Oh and they have the FILTHIEST public toilet I have ever seen! take some paper with you.

Good luck

Becky

bombshell · #3 05-23-2011, 07:27 AM

Thanks Becky

He is in transit at the moment, so no idea when he will arrive there - but just so glad that he is out of where he was. He has been to hell and back, and I am just so thankful he is still alive after what he has been through. They took their sweet time getting him transferred - so I don't care what area he is put in, anything has to be better than where he was as far as his safety and well being goes.

He is no stranger to the system, but I think this time around it has shook him to the core and I pray that it will be the last stint he ever does. Lord knows I have only been through this stint with him, 5 months so far and counting and I have had it with the Department and their policies, their inaction, and the Private vs Public facilities and carry on. They will get their just desserts once I can be sure he is actually ok, well as ok as he can be. Don't want to post too many details on here, but let's just say I am seeking legal advice and it is a pretty clear cut case to me - just need to find someone who isn't going to charge the earth to pursue it ... *sigh*

7 months to go... I just got to keep remembering to breath!

I read somewhere about applying for child visits or something... do you know much about that? I will have a child with me.

Thinking I might train and bus it the first time to suss it out... only an hour and a half to get there which is far better.

bombshell · #4 05-24-2011, 06:22 PM

Yay! He has arrived, thankful for the end of that saga!

He is in MSP 15 Wing... Whatever that means

Wonder what the visits & general conditions are like there?

bombshell · #5 05-26-2011, 03:10 AM

Becky, thanks for the pre-warning of visiting days... It is very strange. She said they do it because of the different areas and because of the number of sex offenders - if restrictions are on the inmate then it swaps between afternoon and morning each week and alternate days each week are for everyone. I don't know how they keep up... None of it made sense. Was glad to know my guy has no restrictions, which I already knew, so I could have morning or afternoon.

Wish you could visit more than once a week though... Junee & Parklea you could visit twice a week

confusing · #6 06-02-2011, 06:40 PM

Glad I was/am not the only one confused my long bay. My partner is in the hospital apart and trying to work out all the in's and out's is painful. I think I might just wait til he back in Goulburn.

*Becky2* · #7 06-03-2011, 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bombshell

Becky, thanks for the pre-warning of visiting days... It is very strange. She said they do it because of the different areas and because of the number of sex offenders - if restrictions are on the inmate then it swaps between afternoon and morning each week and alternate days each week are for everyone. I don't know how they keep up... None of it made sense. Was glad to know my guy has no restrictions, which I already knew, so I could have morning or afternoon.

Wish you could visit more than once a week though... Junee & Parklea you could visit twice a week

Seven months isn't too bad. Hopefully they won't move him again although I've heard that they are "supposed" to release them from the same prison they "welcomed" them in. Having said that my guy started in Grafton, went to Cessnock, then LongBay (2 wings), then John Moroney, then....and only then he ended up where they told him he was intended to be in the first place - Junee. He was only there 3 months by that time and they released him. I had to fly from Brisbane to Sydney, hire a car, drive to Junee, pick him up, drive back to Sydney, drop off the car, get him and I on a flight to Lismore... mind you we treated it all as a nice holiday but we have money...pity the poor men they let out at midnight in the middle of nowhere with a train ticket. I've heard of one poor guy who's family where on the mid-North coast of NSW and that was where he first started out. He spent all of his sentence there at Cessnock EXCEPT for the last 2 weeks when they moved him to JUNEE because THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE WHERE HE WAS SENT AT THE START (but it was too crowded). That meant that he had to make his way back from Junee to Newcastle rather than just being released from Cessnock where his family could have picked him up. Honestly I can't believe the whole system is so badly run. I could do it better with one hand behind my back LOL.

bombshell · #8 06-03-2011, 02:35 AM

Becky, yes the inadequacies of the system are pathetic. Nothing comes as common sense, they try to make it as difficult as they can - yet it could all be done so much easier. Your homeward journey - OMG! But at least you got a reward

hehe

Not a chance in hell he will be back at the place where he was 'supposed' to be - if it wasn't for that place he wouldn't be in the poor condition he is in now. They have a lot to answer for! But I will let the lawyers deal with that side of things.

Confusing, it is good that your man is in LB Hospital - at least he has visitation rights, unlike mine who was in a normal public hospital

However, our guys might meet... mine will be in there - if he isn't already because now he has a complication from the injuries - I really can't see a light at the end of the tunnel as far as his injuries go... makes me so freaking mad

Hope your man is doing much better - have you been given any indication of how severe the stroke was? Ongoing issues, etc? It is just not on that he wasn't attended to or treated properly when he first raised the symptoms... I'd be getting him to get a copy under FOI of his file and medical records in case someone needs to be held accountable for maltreatment

Hope his recovery is smooth xxx

confusing · #9 06-04-2011, 03:03 AM

Hi,
Yeah he is slowly getting better. Still very weak and gets confused. Needs help with walking. Can you call your man at the hospital? which one is he in? I got to call twice a day and talked for about 40-60mins each time. But then he went up to the locked ward and that stuff that plan up.

Did your man end up in junee? We also had time there as well.

bombshell · #10 06-04-2011, 04:03 AM

Yeah he was at that centre... Thankfully no longer!

Nah he's not in hospital yet, he's called me a few times today which I am absolutely loving due to local call costs. Can't wait to see him next weekend

They wont tell him when they will send him next door but hopefully it is soon before the infection gets any worse :-/

It amazes me that when they have trouble walking they still feel the need to lock them in. Same happened with my guy and he was getting to make 20min calls and then they said no more unmonitored calls yet his injuries prevented him from getting to a phone!! Frustrating.

Hope your guy has no permanent damage from the stroke... can be a long road ahead whilst they undertake tests, etc - I've had a few friends who have had strokes to varying degrees - all recovered 100% although the first few weeks weren't so positive. Hopefully he continues improving and the confusion goes. Must be horrible being in jail and feeling less than your normal self

confusing · #11 06-04-2011, 03:39 PM

I guess it must depends on the guards watching them in hospital. As our calls where not times only in ward 9. which is the lock jail ward.

Hope your man is getting the right treatment. But I wont hold my breath if its any thing like my man treatment. Cant wait til he is home and we can get this sorted out once and for all