Cleveland Dodd inquest: Most at-risk youths remained at Unit 18 for six months after teen’s tragic death

Young detainees at the highest risk of self-harm were still being held at Unit 18 until the inquest into the death of Cleveland Dodd began shining a spotlight on the notorious facility. The WA Coroner’s Court has heard how the Department of Justice scrambled to take steps to improve the notorious youth detention unit soon after the tragic October 12 incident. This included starting regular visits by long-promised Aboriginal services officers the day after the 16-year-old died in hospital on October 19. And on Tuesday, it emerged the superintendent at the time, Douglas Coyne, raised concerns with his deputy Marc O’Siochain about a lack of detail in confinement orders, three days after the teen fatally self-harmed. The orders were described by counsel assisting the coroner Anthony Crocker as “formulaic” documents made on an almost daily basis “for months and months and months” that outlined reasons to keep detainees in their cells for up to 24 hours a day. Mr Coyne, then superintendent for both Unit 18 and Banksia Hill Detention Centre, was repeatedly pressed on what motivated that email, insisting it was a coincidence. “I realised that there would be a lot of enquiries,” he conceded, however. Coroner Phil Urquhart then bluntly said: “You realised Cleveland was going to die and there was going to be an inquest”. Mr Coyne replied: “Yes”. The most senior staffer at Unit 18, Mr Coyne also admitted that detainees on the highest level at-risk rating, known as ARMS1, were at Unit 18 despite it not being suitable. Banksia Hill was more appropriate, given it had on-site mental health services and four cells with see-through panels in the doors, unlike Unit 18, he said. The court was told that after the first tranche of the inquest in April, the infamous unit within Casuarina Prison stopped accepting youths on ARMS1. Without the coronial probe, the practice would have gone “on and on and on”, Mr Crocker said. “It would appear that way, yes,” Mr Coyne responded, saying the long wait was a bad look. “I don’t know why it took me that long.” Mr Crocker pressed further. “You wanted to do something so you could say when you came to give evidence that you had done something about it,” he suggested. “How do you complete this sentence: ‘Your honour, I did not do anything in that six month period on this topic because ...’” Mr Coyne paused before replying: “Because I failed”. He also admitted he knew damaged ceiling vents were hanging risks before Cleveland used his, being already familiar with the ways the detainees were smashing them. But he didn’t order for all of them to be fixed until the coroner showed up at Unit 18 the day after Cleveland died. He also didn’t tell his boss about the problem, then commissioner for young people Christine Ginbey, who was left with just the women’s portfolio after the teen’s death. “Did you think creating a potential hanging risk was a problem?” Mr Crocker asked, and Mr Coyne said he did. But nearly half of the vents in C Wing where Cleveland was housed were damaged when Mr Urquhart and Mr Crocker visited. “I didn’t realise the damage was to that extent,” Mr Coyne said. The coroner put to him that just one damaged vent was too many and he agreed. “I’m just at a loss that this didn’t become a pressing issue for you to address,” Mr Urquhart added. The direction to repair them all “occurred immediately”, Mr Coyne said — admitting that was on the coroner’s insistence and no audit of the wing had been performed beforehand. It still took until early December before all the vents were repaired. Mr Crocker said the vents were among about half a dozen examples of failings that would have remained “a dark secret within the department” were it not for the inquest. Mr Coyne agreed that was extraordinary. Cleveland’s mother Nadene Dodd left the courtroom sobbing as Mr Coyne was questioned about him being sprayed with chemical agent during an incident in April last year. “You’ve been punishing my son for f... all,” she said. Lifeline 13 11 14