Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi (PSA), a Corrections staff union, told NZME that probation officers’ work was inherently dangerous but they were not given the basic protections, training or resources needed to keep them safe.
It was concerned for its Community Corrections members, saying that, despite the near-fatal attack, Corrections has largely failed to act on the union’s safety recommendations.
But Corrections said its review into the incident, and a wider review, identified what more it could do to provide safe work environments for Community Corrections staff, and it was in the process of implementing safety enhancements.
However, it said the risk of violence could not be eliminated entirely and noted assaults on the staff were rare.
A prior risk assessment of Broughton, who had no history of violence or aggression towards Corrections’ staff, considered him suitable to be alone with his probation officer.
While Broughton had a knife in his pocket, Corrections said it does not have the authority to use metal detectors or conduct body searches at its community sites.
Enraged offender pulled out flick knife
According to court documents released to NZME, Broughton was serving a sentence of intensive supervision for firearms and offensive weapons offending when he met with his probation officer at Community Corrections in Whanganui on April 9, 2025.
That morning, the pair were wrapping up their appointment when, without warning, Broughton became enraged because the officer would not let him sign a document and keep a copy.
Police guarded the Community Corrections office in Whanganui after the probation officer was attacked. Photo / Eva de Jong
He waited until the officer turned and was distracted with paperwork before, “in a swift action”, he took the flick knife from his pocket and swung it at the victim, causing a deep cut to the side of his head.
A scuffle ensued, during which Broughton stabbed the probation officer in the chest four times as the officer tried to fight him off.
As they fell to the ground, Broughton continued trying to stab him but was prevented from doing so.
Other staff members intervened and Broughton was subdued and restrained until police arrived.
The officer was hospitalised for treatment of the stab wounds, a fractured rib and a small bleed in his lung.
Meanwhile, Broughton told police he became angry because he was unable to keep the document, which he said he was normally allowed to do.
He said he “stands by [his] actions”.
Broughton was sentenced in the Whanganui District Court in January this year for the attack.
‘Most serious assault ever’
At the hearing, Judge Bruce Davidson said the officer’s injuries were initially life-threatening, with one wound close to his heart and another near a vital artery. The injury to the head caused a small skull chip.
“This attack is said to be the most serious assault ever on a probation officer in New Zealand,” Judge Davidson said, according to his sentencing notes.
The judge said there was nothing to suggest Broughton had any obvious angst with the probation officer, “who was doing his level best to assist with [Broughton’s] rehabilitative pathway under the intensive supervision sentence”.
Taylor Lara Broughton was sentenced in Whanganui District Court. Photo / Bevan Conley
The victim was described as an experienced and skilled probation officer who, the judge said, had tried hard to defend himself.
“Your attack was sudden, swift and lethal and most likely it was only the valiant and determined resistance of your victim that saved his life,” Judge Davidson told Broughton at the hearing.
Since the attack, the officer has suffered ongoing concussion, headaches, fatigue and an inability to concentrate.
“The effects for him have been profound, physically, psychologically and emotionally,” the judge said.
“These effects have flowed on to his immediate family, whānau and work colleagues. Only now, some nine months later, he is on a return-to-work plan.”
At sentencing, the Crown proposed 11 years’ imprisonment as an appropriate starting point, submitting that Broughton lacked remorse and insight and that there were barriers to treatment given his failure to engage with the intensive supervision sentence.
But the defence suggested a starting point of seven years and six months, submitting the attack was brief and something had “triggered [Broughton’s] rage”. His deteriorating mental health and personal background were justifiable mitigating factors, his counsel said.
Judge Davidson said the writer of Broughton’s presentence report was rightly “deeply troubled” that Broughton had armed himself before attending the appointment, and by his “rather casual, if not nonchalant” attitude towards weapons and violence.
Judge Bruce Davidson sent Taylor Lara Broughton to prison. Photo / NZME
The judge described the attack as extreme, sudden and unprovoked. He said it was premeditated and the injuries had a significant and profound effect.
However, he had also watched CCTV footage of the incident and described it as brief, lasting about 20 seconds.
For that reason, the judge stopped short of the Crown’s suggested starting point and instead adopted one of nine years and six months.
He then applied an uplift for offending committed while Broughton was serving a sentence and noted his prior firearms and weapons convictions.
Broughton was given credit for his guilty plea, mental health and the causal link between his “violent and traumatic” upbringing and his offending.
His final sentence on the charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm was six years and three months’ imprisonment.
Probation officers’ safety under the spotlight
This week, PSA national secretary Duane Leo told NZME that Community Corrections staff manage a population that is by nature “volatile, violent, and anti-authority”.
He described the work undertaken as “fundamentally unsafe and dangerous”.
“Yet staff receive minimal training in how to respond to violence and aggression and what training is provided is regarded by PSA members as completely ill-matched to the risks they face every day,” Leo said.
He said PSA members say they see no difference in their health and safety at work a year on from the stabbing.
“Offenders may come into offices affected by methamphetamine or other substances and there is no weapons detection before they enter a room with their probation officer.”
The PSA has been explicit in its demands to Corrections since the stabbing over what is required to ensure probation officers are kept safe at work, Leo said, adding that very few recommendations have been supported by Corrections.
The urgent requests included body-worn duress alarms, GPS monitoring of staff, professional supervision, especially when managing violent offenders and sex offenders, information-sharing with police, and pay in accordance with the risks they face, which their colleagues working in prisons receive.
Leo said the Government must properly resource Community Corrections to support rehabilitation, while Corrections must ensure public and staff safety.
Brigid Kean, Corrections’ acting director, communities, partnerships and pathways, said keeping staff safe was the top priority and any violence directed towards them was completely unacceptable.
Corrections undertook a safety review following the stabbing. Photo / NZME
Safety processes were in place at all Community Corrections sites around the country, including Whanganui, she said.
This included staff training on de-escalation and keeping safe at work, physical security features, CCTV and technological security features enabling staff to call for urgent assistance.
Kean said for security reasons, she could not detail all the security measures in place.
She said Corrections’ review following the stabbing identified more than 40 “appropriate steps to deliver effective enhancements to safety”, of which it had started implementing more than half.
A start would be made on the remainder over the next two years, she said.
However, the PSA said that of the actions Corrections had already begun implementing, only one had been completed as of February 27. Nine were in progress, seven were in the planning stage and three had not yet started.
Tara Shaskey is an assistant editor and reporter for the Open Justice team. She joined NZME in 2022 and has worked as a journalist since 2014.