Veronica Nelson handled inhumanely before jail death, jail officer concedes

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

During Brown’s nightshift, the coroner heard Nelson went on to make nine additional calls for assist over the jail intercom, including a closing 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 some time.

Taking to the witness stand for the first time on Friday after a failed Supreme Court docket struggle to suppress her identification, Brown revealed she now believed she ought to’ve completed extra to help Nelson during her closing hours.

Brown accepted she had an obligation of care to Nelson and will have gone to check on the 37-year-old after the inmate turned unresponsive throughout her ultimate intercom call. She additionally accepted Nelson was deprived of “ample” medical care during her keep and not treated humanely.

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

Jail officers will not be permitted to call triple zero and extra senior workers would have to be contacted to do this in any emergency, Brown mentioned.

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

Rishi Nathwani, representing Nelson’s mother, was critical of Brown’s action and pressed the prison officer on an internal review that praised her actions.

Nathwani mentioned in the evaluation, Dame Phyllis Frost basic supervisor Tracey Jones said she was “proud” of the best way 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 jail cell alongside nurse Atheana George about 1.30am the day of Nelson’s dying.

On the stand, Brown disagreed. Jones is due to give proof subsequent week.

Pictures and audio contained on this story had been released to the media with permission from the family. For twenty-four/7 crisis help run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, contact 13YARN (13 92 76).