Vic: Kennett govt, operator criticised over prison deaths

AAP General News (Australia)
04-27-2000
Vic: Kennett govt, operator criticised over prison deaths

MELBOURNE, April 27 AAP - A coroner criticised the former Kennett government and the
operator of Victoria's privately run prison today for not removing hanging points from
cells before the jail opened in August 1997.

State Coroner Graeme Johnstone highlighted systemic problems straddling both the public
and private correctional systems in Victoria.

His comments come after a long-running investigation into the deaths of five prisoners
at Victoria's Port Phillip Prison between December 1997 and March 1998.

Adam Irwin, 20; George Drinken, 28; Rodney Koers, 34; and Michael Filips, 52 were found
hanging. The fifth man, Vienh Chi Tu, 20, died of a suspected drug overdose.

Mr Johnstone said there were significant problems at Port Phillip Prison in the areas
of information management, inexperienced staff, training, implementation of emergency
procedures and cell design, and in the prison health sector.

"Yet only the issue of cell design could actually be said to have contributed to the
individual deaths of those prisoners who have used hanging as a method," Mr Johnstone
said.

He said sound, humane risk management procedures and practices, co-operatively undertaken
by the prison health and correctional sectors, could lower the injury and death rates.

He found that had management been more efficient in addressing risk in the behavioural
and health sectors, there was a chance that the outcome in each case "had potential to
have been far better".

Among Mr Johnstone's 16 recommendations was one for the establishment of a committee
to examine the introduction of Fitzroy Legal Services' new "framework for the identification
of suicide risk".

He also recommended all correctional staff in prisons be highly trained in emergency
response and first aid, and that prison security be reviewed to ensure ambulances could
enter in response to an emergency.

He recommended the Department of Justice consider setting up a committee to examine
the feasibility of developing guidelines in the design of cells and cell furniture to
eliminate obvious hanging points.

Mr Johnstone said: "I think it's time this issue was tackled and tackled properly."

He said he did not want to go through such a process again and said it was a resources
issue that needed careful consideration.

AAP cmc/sp/jlw/ps/bwl

KEYWORD: PRISON DEATHS FINDING LEAD

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