Inquest into unrelated deaths of brothers examines spit hood use, public guardian provision of care

A spit hood put on an disabled man gave him an ‘acute stress response’, an inquest into his death has heard. Read what happened on day three.

Alice Springs Local Court: Picture: Gera Kazakov

Day three - March 5: A man with cognitive disabilities had an “acute stress response” when a spit hood was put on his head for 30 minutes, an inquest into his death has heard.

An inquest into the unrelated deaths of two brothers continued on Wednesday in the Alice Springs Local Court.

The eldest brother – referred to as Big Brother at the request of the family – died in the Alice Springs Hospital in 2023.

He had cognitive disabilities, was in custody, and days before his death was placed in a spit hood, the inquest has heard.

Image of a spit hood..

He was not in a spit hood when he died.

Appearing first as a witness via videolink was Dr Jennifer Delima, an addiction and clinical forensic medicine specialist, who told the court placing a spit hood on Big Brother “activated” an “acute stress response”.

“You’ve activated that acute stress response which is that fight, flight, fright and feign,” she said.

She said putting a spit hood on someone could “rapidly de-escalate the person” when commenting on how corrections officers dealt with Big Brother after he became violent in a shower.

The inquest previously heard how corrections officers restrained Big Brother and placed a spit hood on him after he spat in the mouth of an officer.

Dr Delima said health staff would have used “chemical sedatives” to deal with an aggressive patient, a point which Lawyer Ian Read, representing the Department of Corrections, questioned her on.

Lawyer Ian Read, representing the Department of Corrections, heads into the Alice Springs Local Court for an inquest into the death of two brothers in Alice Springs. Picture Gera Kazakov

“The person is challenged in a cardiovascular respiratory sense, (the) administering of sedatives can be a bit tricky, part of it?” Mr Read asked.

“Generally in that sort of situation, you titrate it to the person’s response. So you give as little as you can to achieve your effect,” Dr Delima replied.

Alice Springs Hospital specialist physician in general and acute care Dr Anna Holwell appeared in person and gave evidence at the inquest, telling the court “I actually don’t think that there is any place for spit hoods in an acute hospital.”

“With the availability of PPE and the mitigation of the risk of infection in the hospital setting, I don’t believe that their use is appropriate.”

Dr Holwell told the court both her and some of her colleagues had been spat on while at work.

“Being spat on is a relatively unpleasant experience for anyone,” she said.

Alice Springs Local Court. Picture: Gera Kazakov generic

“But I would say that as a doctor and someone who works in an acute hospital, that kind of behaviour is not unexpected, particularly when you’ve got patients who are potentially quite distressed, cognitively impaired or in acute crises or acutely distressed states.”

Examining the case of Little Brother, the inquest will look into the provision of care under the public guardian, and through the NDIS.

The court heard from NDIS support coordinator Josh Brown who told the court Little Brother had led a transient life, making it difficult to track him down at times.

NT Public guardian and Trustee Central Australia team manager Michelle Alleman gave evidence on the complexities in providing care for those under the public guardianship.

In her opening statement on Monday, counsel assisting Fiona Kepert said the public guardian had authority to make decisions about both brothers.

The brothers’ family appeared in court on Wednesday.

The inquest continues on Thursday.

Couple’s baby dream impacted by spitting incident

Day two – March 4: A couple’s plan to have a baby was affected after one of them was spat on while at work, an inquest putting the use of spit hoods under the microscope has heard.

Day two of an inquest into the unrelated deaths of two brothers – who died months apart in 2023 – resumed in the Alice Springs Local Court on Tuesday.

At the family’s request, the two brothers are being referred to as Big Brother and Little Brother.

Alice Springs Correctional Centre general manager Bill Carroll spoke on the use of spit hoods by NT corrections officers.

The inquest previously heard that prior to his death, Big Brother was placed in a spit hood while in hospital.

Alice Springs Correctional Centre general manager Bill Carroll leaves the Alice Springs Local Court on Tuesday. Picture: Gera Kazakov

Mr Carroll tendered a spit hood as evidence to the court, and told the inquest how corrections officers experienced a “significant detrimental impact” after they were spat on.

“If I give you an example, a young couple, husband and wife; the husband was spat on while they were trying to have a child … that certainly had a significant effect on those two staff,” he said.

Mr Carroll explained how after a corrections officer is spat on they have to undergo two blood tests, the first taking place immediately after they were spat on.

“Three months later, a person has a second secondary blood test and then they wait for the days of that blood test and get what has been, in most cases, the negative result,” he said.

Coroner Elisabeth Armitage questioned Mr Carroll if officers wear protective masks over their mouth and eyes when dealing with a prisoner who is known to spit.

Mr Carroll said it would be “difficult” for officers to do so, and said they would still have some of their skin exposed if they were wearing short sleeves.

A short-sleeved NT Corrections officer uniform. Picture: File

On Monday, the inquest heard how Big Brother had been identified to have a number of cognitive impairments prior to his death.

Despite this, he was still placed in a spit hood multiple times in the lead up to his death, the court heard.

Eunioa Lane general manager Meghan Forsyth, an occupational therapist, gave evidence on the service provision for the two brothers through the NDIS while under public guardianship.

In her opening statement on Monday, counsel assisting Fiona Kepert said the inquest will also examine service provision by the NDIS and the public guardianship for the two brothers.

Then-Alice Springs Hospital general medicine registrar Dr Matthew Paltridge also gave evidence via videolink on Tuesday.

He told the inquest Big Brother died from pneumonia.

The inquest continues on Wednesday.

Former prison guard defends use of spit hood on man with ‘dementia’

Day one – March 3: A spit hood was placed on a man days after he lashed out over his inability to communicate his need to urinate in an Alice Springs hospital before his death, a court has heard.

A five day inquest headed by the Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage into the death of two brothers began in the Alice Springs Local Court on Monday.

The two brothers – who the family have asked to be referred to as Big Brother and Little Brother – died two months apart in 2023.

Both were in the Alice Springs hospital, but Big Brother was there under guard from the Alice Springs Correctional Centre.

Little Brother was not under guard by corrections.

Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage. Picture: Glenn Campbell

On Monday morning counsel assisting Fiona Kepert outlined the two main points of interest for the inquest.

“The first is investigating and understanding the services provided through the public guardianship orders and NDIS funded services, and also the appropriateness of the use of spit hoods, in particular in a hospital context,” she said.

The first witness to take the stand was former corrections officer Ray Gobbert, who defended placing a spit hood on Big Brother days before his death, after he was spat on by him.

Alice Springs Hospital. Picture: Alex Treacy

Mr Gobbert gave evidence via videolink and told the court how he had to restrain Big Brother while he was being showered by a female nurse in the hospital.

During his attempts to restrain him, Big Brother “spat straight in my mouth and face” he said.

“There was an incident where I believe (Big Brother) wanted to urinate … but I don’t think that was communicated or couldn’t be communicated to him that it would make him feel like he wanted to urinate,” Mr Gobbert said, describing an incident in the lead up to placing a spit hood on Big Brother.

“And I think he became very angry and frustrated that he couldn’t communicate that he wanted to urinate.”

After this incident, Mr Gobbert told the court Big Brother again tried to spit on him, and he placed a spit hood on him while in hospital to prevent him from doing so.

“I wasn’t trying to teach him (not to spit). I was trying to protect myself and others around me at that time; (that) was my primary objective,” Mr Gobbert said when asked if the use of spit hood taught Big Brother to not spit on people.

A spit hood. Picture: File

“I don’t think the spit hood’s designed as a teaching tool. It’s designed as a tool to protect people from getting infected.”

However, Mr Gobbert told the court he did not believe Big Brother acted out of malice given his deteriorating mental state.

“I believed he had some sort of dementia, having dealt with dementia patients before, and that’s the assessment that I basically done on him,” he said.

Mr Gobbert detailed times where the two would struggle to communicate, and Big Brother would get frustrated if he felt he wasn’t understood.

Ms Kepert asked if corrections officers had tried to use interpreters or Aboriginal Liaison Officers to help Big Brother communicate.

Mr Gobbert responded and said he was not aware of Aboriginal Liaison Officers at the hospital and did not witness the officers interact with Big Brother during his time watching him.

Representing the family was Sarah Love, who told the court both brothers were hardworking and introverted with a “great sense of humour”.

They were hard working stockmen who spoke Alyawarre and eastern Arrernte, she said.

Both had a deep connection to country which they prided themselves on, she told the court.

They were “role models for the younger generations” who lived a “transient lifestyle out bush” she said.

She requested an adjournment for the inquest to begin at a later date as most of the brothers’ family are unable to attend court due to cultural obligations.

The inquest continues.

Originally published as Inquest into unrelated deaths of brothers examines spit hood use, public guardian provision of care