Veronica Nelson treated inhumanely before jail dying, prison officer concedes

CCTV exhibits Brown, nurse Atheana George and two different jail officers present Nelson with paracetamol although a cell entice door about 1.30am. It was the final time workers saw her alive.

Throughout Brown’s nightshift, the coroner heard Nelson went on to make nine additional calls for help over the jail intercom, including a remaining two conversations Lacy described as “haunting” and “chilling”. Nothing was heard from Nelson after 4am. Her body was discovered later that morning.

Attending paramedics believed she had been dead for a while.

Taking to the witness stand for the primary time on Friday after a failed Supreme Court fight to suppress her id, Brown revealed she now believed she should’ve done extra to assist Nelson throughout her final hours.

Brown accepted she had an obligation of care to Nelson and should have gone to check on the 37-year-old after the inmate became unresponsive throughout her ultimate intercom name. She additionally accepted Nelson was deprived of “sufficient” medical care during her stay and not treated humanely.

The prison officer was also crucial of the medical care provided to inmates and the situation by which some arrived at the Yarra unit. She said evening nurses often refused to stroll the 200 metres from the medical unit to the Yarra unit to see sufferers throughout the night time.

Jail officers will not be permitted to call triple zero and more senior staff would must be contacted to try this in any emergency, Brown said.

An post-mortem later found Nelson had the undiagnosed medical condition Wilkie’s syndrome, a uncommon however doubtlessly life-threatening gastrointestinal condition.

Rishi Nathwani, representing Nelson’s mother, was crucial of Brown’s action and pressed the jail officer on an inside evaluation that praised her actions.

Nathwani stated within the review, Dame Phyllis Frost general manager Tracey Jones said she was “proud” of the way in which Nelson was handled in her ultimate hours and that Brown “sensitively managed the intercom calls”.

Prison CCTV shows Tracey Brown, far proper, attending Nelson’s prison cell alongside nurse Atheana George about 1.30am the day of Nelson’s death.

On the stand, Brown disagreed. Jones is due to give evidence next week.

Photos and audio contained on this story had been released to the media with permission from the household. For 24/7 crisis support run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, contact 13YARN (13 92 76).