Mother’s dismay as custodial staff cleared after death
Key points:
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Cleveland Dodd was found unresponsive in the early hours of October 12, 2023 inside his cell at Perth’s Casuarina Prison.
- His mother is “dismayed and disappointed” custodial staff were cleared of serious misconduct over her son’s death.
- WA’s Corruption and Crime Commission was tasked with investigating serious misconduct allegations against correctional officers.
The mother of an Indigenous teenager who fatally self-harmed in youth detention is “dismayed and disappointed” custodial staff were cleared of serious misconduct over her son’s death, lawyers say.
Cleveland Dodd was found unresponsive in the early hours of October 12, 2023 inside his cell at Perth’s Casuarina Prison, becoming the first juvenile to die in a detention facility in Western Australia.
WA’s Corruption and Crime Commission was tasked with investigating serious misconduct allegations against correctional officers working when the teenager harmed himself.
It found there had been numerous breaches of Justice Department policies and procedures but said there was no evidence serious misconduct or corruption played a part in his death.
The Dodd family’s lawyers, of Levitt Robinson, said Cleveland’s mother, Nadene Dodd, feels “dismayed and disappointed” by the commission’s findings.
But she remains hopeful “the coronial inquest into Cleveland’s tragic death will shine a light on how impatient, unempathetic and unprofessional the staff at Unit 18 were.”
The 16-year-old made eight threats to self-harm, numerous requests for medical treatment and covered his cell’s CCTV camera in the hours before he was discovered and taken to hospital.
He died eight days later, leaving outrage and grief in the community.
Lawyer Stewart Levitt said the commission had acknowledged numerous failings by the Justice Department and custodial staff, including denying the teenager water and failing to uncover his cell camera so he could be visually monitored.
Yet it praised the officers on duty for showing empathy, he said on Wednesday.
“This is the kind of report that is produced when the state investigates the state.”
Commissioner John McKechnie said the investigation had a confined scope and the coroner was best placed to focus on wider considerations connected to Cleveland’s death and make recommendations
“Its focussed nature means this report may not answer all questions raised by the tragic death of this young man, nor satisfy anyone looking for quick or simple solutions,” he said when the report was tabled in WA parliament.
The coronial inquest into the death is scheduled to resume in July.
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Australian Associated Press
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