By Aaron Bunch
Warning: This story contains the name and images of a deceased Indigenous person.
Correctional staff withheld medication from youth detainees if they had assaulted staff, an inquest into the death of an Indigenous teen who harmed himself in the troubled wing of an adult prison has been told.
Cleveland Dodd was found unresponsive in the early hours of October 12, 2023, inside his cell in Unit 18 at Perth’s Casuarina Prison, becoming the first juvenile to die in detention in Western Australia.
Cleveland Dodd, 16, (inset) died after self-harming in his cell at the youth Unit 18 wing of Perth’s maximum-security Casuarina Prison.
The 16-year-old had made multiple threats to self-harm and numerous requests for medical treatment and drinking water in the hours before he was discovered and taken to hospital.
He died eight days later.
The nurse who tried to save his life before paramedics arrived, Fiona Bain, told the coroner in Perth on Thursday that she has no recollection of a youth custodial officer telling her Cleveland had requested medical help on three occasions in the hours before he hurt himself.
Bain said she was also unaware the teen had asked for Panadol as she detailed the process staff had to follow before they were able to give a detainee medication during the night shift.
It involved seeking permission from a senior officer, who could deny the nurse’s request and professional recommendation if it was deemed there was a risk the detainee could stockpile the drug, overdose or trade them.
Bain also said senior officers could deny detainees medication if they had assaulted correctional staff earlier in the day or in the days prior.
When permission was granted, Bain said the medication was generally pushed under the detainee’s door on a piece of paper.
She also said that if there was no drinking water in the detainee’s cell, which was common, it would generally not be administered because that would require staff to open the cell door.
Prescription medication was generally handed to detainees in the early evening when their cell doors were unlocked to deliver a meal under the watchful eye of a prison officer and a youth custodial officer carrying a shield.
Cleveland made eight threats to harm himself and six requests for Bain and Panadol before he was found motionless in his cell.
Bain said if she had been told he had threatened to hurt himself so many times she would have visited his cell to assess him, but with detainees making up to 50 threats per day, she was not always told when it occurred.
The inquest continues.
AAP
Support is available at Lifeline on 13 11 14. For 24/7 crisis support run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, contact 13YARN (13 92 76).
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