Shift boss spared grilling over Cleveland Dodd’s death in custody
Kyle Mead-Hunter, who was in his office with the lights off when Cleveland Dodd was found unresponsive in his cell, was excused after a psychiatrist found he had severe symptoms from PTSD.
The shift boss of a chaotic prison unit where 16-year-old Cleveland Dodd threatened self-harm eight times before he was found unresponsive has been excused from answering questions at the inquest into the boy’s death.
Evidence so far at the inquest into the life and death of the Aboriginal teenager has revealed Cleveland and other boys at Perth’s notorious Unit 18 were subjected to a restrictive regime that was tougher than conditions for adult males at any maximum-security prison in Western Australia.
Cleveland routinely went without water because it had been turned off at the mains to prevent detainees from causing damage in their cells. He was denied school, exercise and other programs afforded to adult prisoners.
The inquest has heard how a culture of self-harm flourished among the boys at Unit 18 as they were locked in their cells for “23 and sometimes 24 hours of the day”.
Cleveland had threatened suicide or self-harm eight times in the hours before he was found unresponsive in his cell at 1.51am on October 12, 2023.
Shift boss Kyle Mead-Hunter was at the time in his office with the lights off.
On Monday, coroner Philip Urquhart said Mr Mead-Hunter was asked to give evidence but a consulting psychiatrist found he had severe symptoms from post-traumatic stress disorder and was not fit to attend court.
The inquest had previously learned Mr Mead-Hunter had a patchy work record – before Cleveland died, the Western Australian Department of Justice’s professional standards division had made findings against him for past conduct on night shift.
In January 2023, CCTV showed him going into a dark room where he had a conversation with a co-worker for more than two hours.
On another occasion, he was found to have spent an hour alone in a dark room during night shift, On a third occasion, he was found to have used streaming services and social media for four hours while he was supposed to be working.
Despite regular suicide threats and actual self-harming in Unit 18, guards could not monitor cells from the Unit 18 control room because the boys had put toilet paper over cameras in their cells.
Guards did not carry prison-issued radios and there was just one set of keys to all cells, held by the shift boss.
Youth custodial officer Daniel Martin Torrijos had known Cleveland for years, they often spoke through the cell door and Mr Torrijos, a father of six, brought him water, cereal and milk on night shift. Cleveland asked for him by name on the night he fatally self-harmed.
When Mr Torrijos peered through a slit in Cleveland’s cell door and saw him unresponsive, the only person on staff with a key to that cell was the shift boss – Mr Mead-Hunter – who was in his office in the dark with the door shut. CCTV from Unit 18 shows that after Mr Torrijos went to Mr Mead-Hunter’s office and got the keys, Mr Mead-Hunter followed a short time later.
He emerged buttoning his shirt, then walked to the cell with his hands in his pockets.
The inquest had previously heard he put on his belt and boots before leaving the office.
Letters examined by the inquest on Monday show the Aboriginal Legal Service had asked the WA Department of Justice not to establish Unit 18 in July last year but to instead leave all boys at the main youth detention centre, Banksia Hill.
The then McGowan government claimed Unit 18 was necessary to manage the most challenging boys.
It was an option favoured by and advocated for by the union representing youth custodial officers, although the government had difficulty staffing Unit 18 because some officers refused to go there.
Shortly before Cleveland’s death, the ALS asked specifically for him to be returned to Banksia Hill because he was not coping.
The inquest continues.