Boy critical after incident in Perth’s Banksia Hill youth prison

The 16-year-old boy was found unresponsive in his cell early on Thursday morning, before being rushed to hospital in a critical condition.

A teenage detainee of Perth’s troubled Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Centre is in a critical condition following an unspecified early morning incident.

West Australian Premier Roger Cook called a snap press conference on Thursday to reveal the 16-year-old detainee was found unresponsive in his cell at 2am at Banksia Hill’s Unit 18, housed in Casuarina Prison.

Unit 18 houses the most dangerous youth offenders and is used after previous riots caused extensive damage to the main Banksia Hill facility.

A 16-year-old boy was found unresponsive in his cell at Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Centre in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Banksia Hill staff managed to revive the boy, before he was taken to hospital.

“The teenager remains in medical care at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and is in a critical condition,” Mr Cook told reporters.

“All the circumstances … will be investigated, and detainees and staff at Unit 18 in Banksia Hill will be offered counselling and support.

“This is an incredibly regrettable situation, it’s deeply distressing and deeply saddening. The actual events are unfolding, so we have limited information at this time.”

WA Premier Roger Cook called a snap media conference on Thursday morning to provide details of the incident. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia said the boy had been speaking to staff via an intercom shortly before he was discovered.

“It’s a very sad thing that we have to confront … it was only a matter of minutes from that moment until he was checked and found to be unresponsive,” Mr Papalia said.

“The officers commenced resuscitation and they were able to successfully regain a pulse. “I understand [staff] conducted themselves exceptionally well in confronting circumstances. They’ve done, by all reports, an incredible job.

“I’m thinking about the boy, and hopeful his condition will improve, but I’m also thinking about the staff involved in this situation last night.

WA Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia claims Banksia Hill has been “made safe” since he was handed the portfolio in June. Picture: NCA NewsWire /Philip Gostelow

Mr Papalia added the situation is “pretty sensitive” with some of the boy’s family yet to be informed at the time of the media conference.

Banksia Hill has been plagued by a string of riots among detainees since the beginning of 2023, with inmates being held in lockdown for 23 hours a-day at times.

The riots have caused millions of dollars in property and structural damage, with fires sparked in some instances.

A chronic staff shortage has also exacerbated the facility’s ongoing problems.

A report from WA’s Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services in June found Banksia Hill to be in “acute crisis.”

Police with riot gear enter the Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Centre as detainees begin to surrender following a riot in May. Picture: ABC

Mr Papalia said Banksia Hill had “vastly improved” and been “made safe” since he took over the Corrective Services portfolio in June.

“Banksia Hill is a far better place … that is because, primarily, we’ve housed the most challenging, complex, and often dangerous juveniles in Unit 18, because that’s all we have,” Mr Papalia said.

But he admits using Unit 18 is “not ideal.”

“The problem we confront is this particular cohort of young people regularly self-harmed wherever they were; it wasn’t something directly associated with Unit 18,” he said.

“[Corrections have] learned a lot about how to improve the infrastructure and harden it, to reduce the likelihood of that happening, and the likelihood of parts of the cells being turned into weapons and being used against the staff.

“I accept Unit 18 isn’t ideal, we want to make it better, there is an infrastructure review that will hopefully identify the need for a purpose-designed facility for this cohort … but right now [Unit 18] is what we have.”

Originally published as Boy critical after incident in Perth’s Banksia Hill youth prison