Family of Cleveland Dodd “dismayed and disappointed” by CCC findings on his death in custody

The mother of Cleveland Dodd is “dismayed and disappointed” that prison staff were cleared of serious misconduct over her son’s death by WA’s Corruption and Crime Commission.

Cleveland died days after self-harming in Unit 18, the youth unit within the maximum security adult Casuarina prison, on 12 October 2023.

The 16-year-old Indigenous boy was the first to die in Western Australia’s youth detention system.

After a series of appalling failures on the night Cleveland fatally self-harmed were revealed, the case was referred to the CCC to determine if serious misconduct by staff had occurred.

The Commission ruled on Tuesday that while there had been a number of breaches of Justice Department policies and procedures there was no evidence serious misconduct or corruption played a part in Cleveland’s death.

In a statement issued by Levitt Robinson lawyers, Cleveland’s mother Nadene Dodd said she feels “dismayed and disappointed” by the Commission’s findings, but remains hopeful “that the coronial inquest into Cleveland’s tragic death will shine a light on how impatient, unempathetic and unprofessional the staff at Unit 18 were in the lead up to, and aftermath of, my son’s death”.

Over the course of the first part of the coronial inquest into Cleveland’s death, a number of alarming details were revealed.

The hearing heard detainees were denied medication if they displayed violent behaviour; Cleveland threatened self-harm eight times on the night he took his own life and made a number of requests for medical treatment; guards were watching movies while Cleveland self-harmed; and that a senior guard was asleep as Cleveland fatally self-harmed.

Aboriginal Legal Service WA chief executive Wayne Nannup told National Indigenous Times the findings left him “lost for words”.

“We are deeply saddened by those lack of findings. How is the Dodd family feeling today? It must be enormously saddening for them, particular with the trauma they have had to experience through this whole process,” he said.

“As an organisation we need to think about one, how is the family feeling about this, and two, who is held responsible for this at the end of the day? To me it feels like government is not taking responsibility at all.”

Lawyer Stewart Levitt said the CCC had acknowledged numerous failings by the Department and custodial staff, included denying the teenager water and failing to uncover his cell camera so he could be monitored.

“This is the kind of report that is produced when the state investigates the state,” Mr Levitt said on Wednesday.

The coronial inquest into the death is scheduled to resume in July.

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