Tear-gassed Don Dale detainees ‘thought they were going to die’, court hears

TWO former detainees in the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre who were tear-gassed in their cells ‘started saying their goodbyes’ to each other because they ‘thought they were going to die’, a court has heard.

Two former detainees in the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre who were tear-gassed in their cells ‘thought they were going to die’, a court has heard. Picture: Keri Megelus

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TWO former detainees in the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre who were tear-gassed in their cells “started saying their goodbyes” to each other because they “thought they were going to die”, a court has heard.

The lawyer for the four former Don Dale detainees appeared in the Darwin Supreme Court today after they won a High Court case ruling the use of tear gas on them by prison guards in 2014 was unlawful.

Justice Jenny Blokland today heard submissions from lawyers for both the plaintiffs and the NT Government to determine how much they should be paid in compensation.

The court heard the plaintiffs – then aged between 15 and 17 – were four of six boys held in the Behavioural Management Unit of Don Dale when tear gas was deployed into the unit to control one of the detainees.

Their lawyer, Kathleen Foley, said the specialist prison guards called in from the adult prison had no legal authority to deploy tear gas in a youth facility.

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Ms Foley said the deployment of the “potentially lethal” chemical, and the treatment of the detainees afterwards, went against corrections’ own protocols which included; not using tear gas if it would impact uninvolved people and ensuring there are escape routes.

“Corrections well knew how dangerous this chemical was and the dangers of using it,” she said.

Ms Foley submitted each plaintiff be paid $280,000 in damages.

According to the affidavit of plaintiff Kieran Webster – which Ms Foley referred to in court – two boys were in their cell playing cards when the gas was deployed. “It was so hard to breathe but then Leroy and I thought we were going to die,” the affidavit said. “We started shaking each other’s hands and saying our goodbyes.”

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Lawyer for the NT Government, Trevor Moses, said Mr Webster’s claim he thought he was going to die was “an embellishment.”

He said the use of tear gas was what they thought was their safest option for controlling the inmates.

Justice Blokland will hand down her decision on a later date.

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