Gayle Woodford inquest: Deputy State Coroner makes 12 recommendations

The husband of nurse Gayle Woodford has spoken out after an inquest into her murder made 12 recommendations, saying she “never had a chance” against her killer.

An inquest into the death of outback nurse Gayle Woodford has recommended a permanent police presence be established in Fregon and that high-risk offenders should be precluded from living in the APY Lands.

Deputy State Coroner Anthony Schapel delivered his findings – which listed 12 recommendations – in a 103 page document on Thursday morning.

He found that Mrs Woodford’s death could have been prevented had her employer – Nganampa Health Council – not allowed nurses to work alone when attending to male clients.

“The obvious solution for the NHC would have been to make provision for nurses to be accompanied by another person when working on-call at night and to have called for the necessary funding, a measure that took Mrs Woodford’s murder to come to realisation,” he said in his findings.

“Mrs Woodford’s death could thereby have been prevented.”

Also among those recommendations was that the Attorney-General impose an obligation on SA Police, the Department for Correctional Services and the Parole Board to advise whether an application should be made to the Supreme Court for a prisoner to be detained in custody for a longer period.

Mrs Woodford, 56, was lured from the Fregon property she shared with her husband Keith on March 24, 2016 by Dudley Davey.

Her body was found two days later in a shallow grave on the outskirts of the Aboriginal community in the APY lands.

Ms Woodford was a nurse working for the Nganampa Health Council and on-call on the night she was murdered.

Davey, a repeat sex offender, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison for her murder, which prompted safety reform for nurses and other personnel working in remote communities.

Mr Schapel has also recommended that it be considered that health practitioners should always be accompanied by a second responder, whether at the home of a health practitioner or during any journey to where a health service is provided.

Gayle Woodford was lured from her Fregon property and murdered by repeat sex offender Dudley Davey. Source: Facebook

Davey had been released from prison only six months before he killed Mrs Woodford. He was described during the inquest as “potentially every woman and young girl’s worst nightmare”.

Mr Schapel said Davey – who had committed multiple prior sexual offences against women – had been identified as a “serious repeat offender constituting a high risk”.

He said high risk offenders, particularly those with a history of sexual predation and violence “should not be allowed anywhere near the APY Lands”.

“I have little doubt that if Mrs Woodford had known of the background and propensities of Dudley Davey she would never have engaged with him without the walls of the cage at all times intervening between the two of them,” he said in the findings.

During the inquest Mr Schapel was told one nurse felt Fregon was “the most violent place” she had ever worked. That nurse had worked at various other communities for over 10 years.

In his findings, Mr Schapel said a permanent police presence in a remote community “would have a deterrent effect on criminality and other misbehaviour”.

He said the closest police station was at least 40 minutes away at Mimili, but heard it sometimes took hours for police to respond to incidents in the remote community.

He noted that an earlier inquest had previously recommended a much greater police presence in the remote APY Lands communities.

Had a police presence existed in Fregon at the time, he said, there would have been a greater likelihood health staff knew of the danger he posed.

Mr Schapel had heard the homes of nurses working in the community were equipped with cages, but they limited the ability for nurses to provide medical care.

“The proposition that a community in which certain of its members need to be protected by cages does not require an immediatepolice presence within that community would, I think, strike the ordinary man or woman in the street as perverse,” he said in his findings.

During the inquest, Mr Schapel was told a “catalogue of blunders” left Davey unmonitored by authorities in the months before he raped and killed Mrs Woodford.

Mr Schapel said Gayle’s Law, which requires health workers in remote areas to be accompanied by a second responder when attendingout-of-hours or unscheduled call-outs to reduce the risk of attack, was “silent” on what should happen if someone seeking help attends at the health workers home, as Davey had.

He said this must be considered during any review of the law and recommended NHC health practitioners were accompanied enroute to any call-out “day or night” and amend their guidelines so workers homes cannot be approached when seeking help.

Mr Schapel’s 12 recommendations were directed at the Premier, SA Police, the Attorney-General, Department for Corrections and the Nganampa Health Council.

In response to the findings, a spokesman from SA Police said they would examine the recommendations. A spokesman from the Nganampa Health Council said they were unable to comment about the recommendations until they had a chance to fully digest the document.

A spokeswoman for the State Government said they would “review and consider the recommendations”, and that “a response will be provided in due course”.

Gayle Woodford’s husband Keith Woodford with Gayle’s sister Andrea Hannemann outside the Corone’rs Court after the inquest findings were handed down. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation CEO Elizabeth Dabars said they were indebted to the Woodford family for their advocacy, and welcomed the recommendations – particularly the emphasis on Gayle’s law being expanded to cover all times of day and night.

“However, there is further work to be done which extends beyond the Coroner’s jurisdiction,” Prof Dabars said.

“In particular, we continue to assert that this SA law should be adopted elsewhere to achieve Australian-wide coverage. Further, that currently the level of violence and aggression in every health setting in SA is unacceptable and the necessity for this law and the other issues being experienced show that the OHSW law and obligation on employers to provide a safe work environment are not being adequately implemented, nor are there any meaningful consequences for breach.”

Spokespeople for the State Government, SA Police and the NHC each said they would consider the recommendations, but needed more time.