A warning to viewers, this story contains content some may find distressing. It discusses incidents of self-harm and includes images of an Indigenous person who has died. A coronial inquest into WA first recorded death in youth custody is set to resume on Monday. The probe has already heard from the front-line staff at a maximum-security adult prison, where Cleveland Dodd was found unresponsive after inflicting harm to himself in his cell in October last year. The inquest will now focus on senior management, government officials at the department of justice and the wider systemic gaps.
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00:00The first part of the probe revealed the stark contrast in how the state presented Unit 18
00:08and what it was actually like.
00:10Here's what the Deputy Commissioner said when the unit first opened in 2022.
00:16This is a much better environment for them.
00:18It's a much safer environment for them.
00:20It's secure.
00:21It enables them to get the care and attention that they need in a much more intensive manner.
00:27But that's not how the unit manager saw it.
00:30She told the inquiry she spent a lot of her day in worry because she couldn't give detainees
00:35the supervision they required.
00:37While the duty nurse said unlike other detention facilities, Unit 18 had no dedicated nursing
00:43area or mental health team.
00:45And on multiple occasions, a continually self-harming detainee had no access to mental health support.
00:52The Deputy Commissioner goes on.
00:54I think the staff are looking forward to coming into a much better, a more fit for
01:00purpose environment.
01:03We've had staff volunteer to come.
01:06But the officers inside tell a different story.
01:09One testifying it was set up to fail.
01:11They didn't feel that it was going to be successful and some refused to go.
01:16When it came to transferring Unit 18 detainees back to Banksia Hill, the Deputy Commissioner
01:21said.
01:23They will be assessed on a weekly basis, on an ongoing basis.
01:27And when they're able to move back to Banksia Hill, they will individually be moved back.
01:32But in the eyes of Unit 18's former manager, to try get a detainee back to Banksia Hill
01:37was like pushing a huge rock up there.
01:40They didn't want them, she said.
01:41I'm going to be honest and say they did not want them there.
01:45Christine Jimby is among officials set to give evidence in the coming weeks and will
01:50no doubt be questioned on these gaps in perspective.