Call to shut community of Fregon where nurse murdered

The remote South Australian community where outback nurse Gayle Woodford was raped and murdered in 2016 should be shut down because of endemic violence, a retired GP says.

Nurse Belinda Schultz, left, who worked with murder victim Gayle Woodford, leaves the Adelaide Coroners Court on Tuesday.

The remote South Australian community where outback nurse Gayle Woodford was raped and murdered in 2016 should be shut down because of endemic violence, a retired GP says.

Giving evidence at an inquest into Woodford’s death, Glynis Johns likened Fregon to the Wild West and said it “wasn’t a functioning community”.

“There was no plan, no leadership and only dysfunction in the community,” Dr Johns told the SA Coroners Court on Tuesday.

“These are people who are marginalised and have suffered a lot. We have an obligation to provide a safe environment, especi­ally for women and children, who are often the victims of violence.”

Dr Johns said the community should be closed, not as a punitive measure but for the safety of its residents.

Woodford, who was ­employed by the Nganampa Health Council, was found buried in a crude grave three days after she disappeared from her Fregon home in the state’s far north.

Dudley Davey subsequently pleaded guilty to her rape and murder and is serving a minimum 32-year jail term.

It is believed Davey tricked Woodford, 56, into opening a ­security cage around her home and overpowered her as she ­walked to her ambulance.

Dr Johns’s suggestion follows similar evidence from Woodford’s colleague, nurse Belinda Schultz, who told the ­inquiry that Fregon was the most violent place she had worked.

She said medical staff encountered violence almost daily and the health clinic was closed each week because of community violence. “A day without an incident was a good day,” she said.

Returning to the witness box on Tuesday, Ms Schultz said ­safety was a “frequent discussion” in clinical meetings but staff ­concerns were dismissed.

“You were being told that it was OK for this culture of ­violence to be happening in this community and this is just the way it is out here,” she said.

“If you don’t feel like you can cope with that level of violence then — that level of risk — then perhaps you’re not the right fit for this job, perhaps you’re not strong enough, tough enough.”

The inquest continues before Deputy Coroner Anthony ­­Scha­pel.

AAP