25 Aug 2015

Ex-prison worker denies drug test claims

3:00 pm on 25 August 2015

A former manager at the troubled Mount Eden Prison is denying a claim that he was fired for refusing to take a drugs test.

Serco logo

The logo of the prison operator Serco. Photo: RNZ / Kim Baker Wilson

Darren Farrow was a senior manager with Serco when it ran the prison. He is also a bodybuilder.

Earlier this week, the New Zealand Herald said he had been suspended, then dismissed, for refusing a drugs test.

In a statement provided by his lawyer, Mr Farrow said he took one test, which came back negative, but was then asked for a second and third test, to check for body-building drugs.

He said the disagreement with Serco was about boundaries between work and private life, and he and the prison firm agreed to go their separate ways.