COVID-19 jail measures linked in detainee suicide, ACT Government reveals
The complexities of accommodating prisoners in Canberra’s jail during the covid-19 pandemic has been identified by the a-c-t government as a key factor in the suicide of a detainee two years ago. A coronial inquiry heard 27-year-old Luke rich was placed in a cell that had recognised safety risks.
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00:00The inquest heard the doors of some cells, like the one Luke Rich was placed in, had
00:07what's called ligature points, which two other detainees had used in suicide attempts
00:12in 2020.
00:13The cost of replacing the doors was quoted at $610,000, but despite an exemption from
00:19normal capital works processes being granted for their replacement due to the inherent
00:23safety risk, the inquest was told the funding was not available.
00:27The 27-year-old was arrested at his home the day before his death, after his partner
00:31alleged he'd been violent.
00:33The coroner found that while assessment processes when he arrived at the jail were adequate,
00:38subsequent management and observation wasn't.
00:40The government says Mr Rich's death is a tragedy, but points to the complexity of the situation
00:45at the jail at the time as a contributing factor.
00:49During a pandemic, there were many, many other things that the government needed to do in
00:54order to ensure that there weren't outbreaks in the jail, and that did mean utilising all
00:59of the available facilities in order to keep people separate.
01:04I am very sorry that this is what happened to him.
01:08This is something that nobody ever wants to see happen to anyone, and of course we're
01:13looking at all of the things that we can do to make sure that we don't have these circumstances
01:19again.
01:20The elections minister says the cell doors have since been fixed, but a full response
01:25from the government won't likely be finalised before the government goes into caretaker
01:31mode ahead of the October ACT election.