Coronial inquest underway into deaths of Parklea Correctional Centre inmates Benjamin Cullen, Robert Bickerstaff

The family of an inmate who died on a footpath 24 hours after leaving custody say corporate greed caused his “avoidable and senseless” death, accusing a private prison of “prioritising profits over people”.

The family of an inmate who lay dying alone on a footpath within a day of being released from prison say he was not given his epilepsy medication during the five weeks he spent in custody.

Benjamin Nathan Cullen, 41, died on February 23, 2021, on his way home to Newcastle after leaving Sydney’s Parklea Correctional Centre, where he’d spent more than a month on remand before being released on a community correction order.

The father and uncle died alone on a footpath after suffering three epileptic seizures in a row, less than 500m from John Hunter Hospital.

An inquest into the circumstances leading up to Mr Cullen’s death, along with that of fellow inmate Robert Bickerstaff, 87, is underway in the NSW Coroner’s Court.

St Vincent’s Health Network took over healthcare operations at Parklea, which is owned by foreign companies MTC and Broadspectrum, from Justice Health in 2019.

Benjamin Nathan Cullen died within 24 hours of leaving Parklea.

Over the five-day inquest, deputy state coroner David O’Neil heard detailed evidence indicating gaps in the care provided by St Vincent's, which was described as “unreliable and flawed”.

On Friday, the inquest heard from Mr Cullen’s mother, Gaylene, that her son had experienced just one epileptic seizure his whole life, and was pedantic about taking his medication.

Benjamin Nathan Cullen died within 24 hours of leaving Parklea. Picture: Supplied

Ms Cullen said her son called regularly during his time in custody, and often mentioned he wasn’t receiving his dose of the Keppra medication used to treat epilepsy.

She began to suspect her son was having seizures after days went by between phone calls before he would call, sounding “vague, confused and with little recollection”, which the inquest heard were telltale signs of a recent fit.

In a grief-stricken statement to the inquest, Ms Cullen said she “can’t understand” how the “denial of such a basic human right” happened in 2021.

“His death was avoidable,” she said.

St Vincent’s Health Network took over operations in 2019.

“Keppra twice daily as directed by his GP, which Parklea had full knowledge of.

“Medication which costs $7 a week for a jail that’s paid $120,000 per inmate per year

“How do you expect me to sit here as a mother and hear that my son’s death was because of ‘short staffing’ when you continue to make money on the stock market? It’s not acceptable.”

Ms Cullen finished her statement with a plea to the jail: “Please, Parklea, stop these senseless deaths in custody. There are no corrections behind those walls. ‘See you when you get back,’ the guards say.”

Sharney Cullen told the inquest she would “forever be haunted by the circumstances surrounding” her brother’s death.

“Ben’s death was no means an isolated incident,” she said.

“I want to know how MTC Broadspectrum have a contract when they are failing at an alarming rate, blaming staff shortages for my brother’s death but continuing to make great profits for shareholders

“He was so much more than the circumstances surrounding his premature death.

“I hope this never happens again and we can save other families the trauma.”

A witness called to give evidence after working with St Vincent's at the time gave a tearful apology to the Cullen family “for the gaps in his care”.

“Personally, on behalf of St Vincent's and myself, I want to apologise for any contribution we made to gaps in his care,” the witness said

“I want to give you my personal word that the service inmates receive in 2024 is not the service that was in place from 2019 to 2021. I am so sincerely sorry for your loss.”

Ms O’Neil heard from an employee that Mr Cullen had not been provided with a medical discharge summary, and that there was no evidence to suggest Parklea had taken responsibility to ensure his health issues were met.

The findings of the inquest will be handed down at a future date.