Ombudsman Deborah Glass finds disabled woman was kept in solitary, screamed for hours
A DISABLED Melbourne woman was wrongly imprisoned and would scream “with distress for hours on end”, in what the Ombudsman described as “the saddest case” she had investigated.
VIC News
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A DISABLED woman’s human rights were breached when she was locked up and would scream “with distress for hours on end”, a shocking Ombudsman report has found.
Deborah Glass was scathing of the woman’s treatment, labelling it “the saddest case” she had investigated as Ombudsman.
The 39-year-old was imprisoned after being found unfit to stand trial on charges of resisting police and breaching an intervention order taken out by family.
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She spent 18 months at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in 2016 and 2017, the Ombudsman found, “simply because there was nowhere for her to go”.
In solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day, she lost half her body weight and would scream for hours.
The Ombudsman’s report, released today, found the woman slipped through the cracks because professionals could not agree on whether she had a mental condition or disability, and her diagnosis changed.
Ms Glass said the “State failed Rebecca”, a pseudonym given to protect the woman and her family.
“Her long and damaging stay in prison was a breach of her human rights,” she said.
Ms Glass said it was clear that Rebecca’s case was not isolated but that there was no data to show how many people like her were in prisons.
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“No agency is responsible for tracking people who are deemed unfit to stand trial. But there is
no doubt hers is not an isolated case,” she said.
“We heard many more stories, some as sad as Rebecca’s, which highlight both the trauma of incarceration on acutely vulnerable people, and the threat to community safety in failing to provide a safe and therapeutic alternative to prison.”
Rebecca was imprisoned for about 18 months when a judge said she was likely to have been jailed for a month if she was found guilty.
She was released from prison in late 2017, and moved to a “suitable house” with a care provider.
She now loves listening to music, reading magazines, being taken for drives and swimming at the beach, her care provider said.
The Ombudsman’s report made eight recommendations, including that the state government invest in “secure therapeutic alternatives to prison” for people found unfit to stand trial.
It also recommended specialist prison units for women with intellectual disabilities, and that the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission review Dame Phyllis Frost Centre’s policies and treatment of women with mental impairments.
A Correction Victoria spokeswoman said there was a small number of people who courts had ordered be detained in prison, despite being found unfit to stand trial.
“Careful planning and consideration is required to manage the complex needs and challenging behaviours of these individuals while maintaining the safety and wellbeing of staff and other prisoners,” the spokeswoman said.
“We acknowledge that the management of someone like ‘Rebecca’ in a secure prison environment — as opposed to in community care with a specialist disability provider — presents a range of difficulties.
Corrections Victoria is committed to continually examining services, programs and management techniques for highly complex offenders, including those who have profound mental health needs and intellectual disabilities.”
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