Mothers fear sons could die in controversial juvenile facility

The mothers of four boys inside a controversial Western Australia juvenile detention facility are increasingly fearful someone could die amid a material worsening of conditions in recent months.

Unit 18 sits within the maximum security Casuarina Prison.

The mothers of four boys inside Western Australia’s controversial Unit 18 juvenile detention facility say they are increasingly fearful that someone could die amid a material worsening of conditions in recent months.

Unit 18, which sits within the maximum security Casuarina adults prison, has been beset by rising amounts of self-harm, suicide attempts and riots. One riot last month left six guards with injuries.

The unit was established last year to accommodate detainees from the Banksia Hill detention centre who were deemed to be particularly troublesome. Conditions within the unit have been slammed by current and former Children’s Court judges, and a class action has been launched against the state government.

The mothers, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution against their children, said they believed the conditions inside Unit 18 had hurt any hope of rehabilitation. All four said their children had self-harmed while inside the unit, with some having witnessed suicide attempts by other boys.

Two mothers said their sons had told them how they had seen the aftermath of an incident involving a boy who had been pepper-sprayed after breaking out of his cell. The boy poured drain cleaner over his face in an attempt to wash off the spray residue and was hospitalised with chemical burns.

One mother said their son had been very affected by what he saw: “He told me that he saw the kid when he was taken to hospital, and he had blisters on his face and skin was falling off his face.”

Their children, they said, had received little to no education or rehabilitation services while in Unit 18 and had regularly been locked up for as long as 23 hours a day. One mother said she had been moved to speak about her child’s situation out of a growing sense of helplessness.

“Banksia Hill and Unit 18 is ... supposed to rehabilitate the kids, to help them and get them back on track,” she said. “This hasn’t happened, it is getting worse and worse, I can see this, and I don’t know how to help my son.

“He told me a kid tried to hang himself and they resuscitated him, another kid banged his head on the wall for so long and then there was blood everywhere. He tells me all these things that he has witnessed, and he’s witnessing this when he‘s still a child.”

She feared both that someone would die, and that the trauma of the time inside Unit 18 would derail their rehabilitation.

“My fear is that the trauma those kids experience will affect them greatly. And if they’re not rehabilitated, they will go out in the community and they will continue to do bad things,” she said.

Mothers of four boys in Unit 18, within Casuarina Prison, received little to no education or rehabilitation services.

Another mother said she had recently received a phone call from the prison informing her that her son had been trying to self-harm. Her son had also witnessed a hanging attempt.

“I haven’t heard of anyone coming to visit to do programs or start school again or anything,” she said.

A third mother told how her son had explained to her that he had attempted self-harm as it was the only way to get out of his cell.

She too was concerned about what she said was a lack of rehabilitation programs offered to the detainees. “While they’re in custody you expect them to do some rehabilitation, but I don’t see that in what’s been going on in this unit,” she said.

A fourth mother, from regional WA, said her son had “gone feral” during his time in Unit 18 and was worse than before he went in. “There’s too much trauma in there,” she said.

The mothers also said there had been growing difficulties in visiting their children. A majority of scheduled visits, they said, were now being cancelled.

A spokeswoman for WA’s Department of Justice said the unit had capacity for up to 100 in-person visits and 60 e-visits each week, with visits only cancelled for specific security concerns “on a very small number of occasions”. Education and other services was a department priority when the safety and security of staff, teachers and detainees could also be managed.

“Young people are provided education by fully qualified and registered teachers during school terms when safe to do so,” the spokeswoman said.

She said psychologists were available at any time when they were determined to be required, with detainees also supported by Aboriginal Youth Support Officers, mentors, Chaplains, Aboriginal Visitors, education and recreation staff, custodial officers and case planning staff.