OPPOSITION prisons spokesperson Giulia Jones has called for a ban on plastic toothbrushes in the Alexander Maconochie Centre after a “sickening” attack on a prison inmate.

The victim is understood to have been attacked with a “shiv”, a sharp weapon fashioned from plastic toothbrushes with the handle either sharpened or melted and fused with razor blades.

“This attack is more proof that the prison is rife with shivs and other weapons,” she says.

“I call on the Minister to cease the supply of these plastic toothbrushes and opt for more appropriate silicon ‘finger toothbrushes’ which cannot be easily abused.

“The Minister should more proactively and aggressively tackle the scourge of weapons and contraband in the prison before another inmate or a staff member is injured or worse.”