Australian survivor tells of jail horror  September 10, 2005 -
9:43AM Close encounter ... Ashley McDonald, accompanied by
family members, tells of his ordeal.  Photo: AP  An Australian
survivor of Hurricane Katrina has told of the horrors he faced
in two Louisiana jails, including being threatened and robbed by
an armed inmate and watching another get stabbed.  While Ashley
McDonald was missing for almost two weeks and his family and the
Australian public wondered if he had been killed by the
hurricane that struck on August 29, the 30-year-old was battling
to survive in two lawless jails.  He was detained on a minor
offence but ended up sharing cells and exercise yards with death
row inmates, murderers, gang members, rapists and Louisiana's
other hardened criminals.  That was frightening enough for the
factory hand from Narre Warren in Melbourne's south-east, but
what made his jail stay a potential life-and-death experience
was many of the inmates, in the confusion of the hurricane, had
smuggled in deadly wea