Youth prison staff ‘resting, watching movies’ as young inmate self-harmed

A report into the death of an Indigenous teenager being held in custody has been handed down, with explosive findings.

Warning for First Nations readers: this article contains the images and name of a person who has died. They have been published with permission of the family.

Youth custodial officers were “resting or watching movies” at the time an Indigenous teenager self-harmed while being held in an embattled Perth youth detention centre unit, housed in an adult prison.

Cleveland Dodd was 16 years old when he tried to take his own life while being held in Banksia Hill Youth Detention Centre’s Unit 18 in the early hours of October 12, before dying in hospital from his injuries a week later.

It was revealed on Friday youth custodial staff were “resting or watching movies” when Cleveland Dodd, 16, self-harmed on October 12, before dying in hospital the following week.

Unit 18 is housed in the maximum security adult Casuarina Prison, after a number of riots caused extensive structural damage to the main Banksia Hill facility about 20km away, and is used to detain the most serious youth offenders.

WA’s Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia on Friday publicly released an interim report into Cleveland’s death, showing there were a series of procedural errors in the lead-up.

“The internal investigation has clearly uncovered significant failures,” Mr Papalia told a media conference on Friday morning.

Banksia Hill’s Unit 18 is housed within Casuarina Prison, a maximum-security adult facility.

He said “operational procedures were not followed on the night,” including poor record keeping; youth custodial officers not carrying radios; and Cleveland not being on ARMS (At-Risk Management System, a form of suicide watch) despite making self-harm threats.

“It appears staff were resting or watching movies at the time Cleveland self-harmed,” Mr Papalia said, also revealing the camera in the boy’s cell had been covered with toilet paper since the previous afternoon.

“Individually, none of these things are acceptable. Collectively, they are disturbing, and confirm the need for significant cultural change.

“Put simply, we let him down.”

“Put simply, we let (Cleveland) down,” Mr Papalia told reporters on Friday. Picture: NCA NewsWire /Philip Gostelow

Mr Papalia noted some of the staff members who were on duty the night Cleveland died are yet to be interviewed, as they’re still on workers compensation leave following the incident.

Unit 18 at Casuarina will remain open for the time being, although Mr Papalia reiterated his intention to close the facility once a suitable replacement can be found or rebuilt at Banksia Hill.

“Unit 18 is the only suitable location we have to house this small cohort of challenging complex and very often dangerous juveniles,” Mr Papalia said.

“Unit 18 is not what we want, and it will be closed as soon as another suitable location is created.”

A coronial inquest and a Corruption and Crime Commission review into the incident will also be carried out.

Originally published as Youth prison staff ‘resting, watching movies’ as young inmate self-harmed