Man becomes second person to die in Perth prison custody in less than a week

Warning: This story carries the name of a deceased Indigenous person.

A man has died at Hakea Prison in Perth’s south-east, becoming the second person to die in custody in Western Australia in less than a week.

The man was found unconscious in his cell at the Canning Vale prison around 5.40pm on Monday.

A Department of Justice spokesperson said staff provided first aid until St John Ambulance paramedics arrived and took the man to Fiona Stanley Hospital, but he was unable to be revived.

A report will be prepared for the coroner as is mandatory for deaths in custody, but the death has been deemed not suspicious.

This terminology is generally understood to relate to a self-harm incident.

Hakea Prison houses men who have been remanded in custody and are waiting to appear in court, as well as convicted prisoners.

The incident comes midway through a major probe into the death of a 17-year-old boy at the state’s controversial Banksia Hill Detention Centre on Thursday evening.

That teenager became the second juvenile to take their own life in the state’s juvenile detention system in the past 12 months after Cleveland Dodd’s death in October 2023.

The death at the state’s facility in Perth’s southern suburbs sparked uproar, heaping more pressure on the state government over the system it claims it is trying to overhaul after years of criticism over staffing issues and the use of solitary confinement.

While visiting Perth this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the death warranted a thorough investigation, but he declined to interfere in WA’s state-run custodial system.

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