A 39-year-old mentally impaired woman spent 18 months in a Victorian prison locked in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day, screaming with distress for hours on end.
The Victorian ombudsman, Deborah Glass, described the woman’s case as the saddest she had ever investigated. In a report tabled to parliament on Tuesday, Glass described the woman’s long and damaging imprisonment at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre west of Melbourne as an “unjust, oppressive, improperly discriminatory and wrong” breach of her human rights.
The woman, identified only as Rebecca to protect her privacy, was remanded in custody after being charged with breaching an intervention order taken out by her family in 2015. The order prevented her from going within 200 metres of the family home. Rebecca was also charged with resisting police.
She was found unfit to stand trial and not guilty due to mental impairment. Under Victorian law, such people must not be detained in prison unless there is no practicable alternative.
“She remained in prison simply because there was nowhere for her to go,” Glass wrote. “While Rebecca had a lifelong history of behavioural difficulties, professionals were unable to agree whether she had a mental health condition or a disability. Her changing diagnosis meant she fell into a service gap. Professionals agreed she needed support, but no one could agree on who was responsible.
“Her challenging behaviour, which could be antisocial and sometimes violent, brought her into contact with the criminal justice system, and into prison. Despite the care of individual prison officers and staff, her condition deteriorated markedly as a result of her 18 months in solitary confinement. Although valiant efforts are now being made to integrate her into the community, both she and society are still paying a high price.”
There is no data on how many people deemed unfit for trial are in prison. But Glass’s report, “Investigation into the imprisonment of a woman found unfit to stand trial”, found Rebecca’s case was not an isolated one.
“We heard many more stories, some as sad as Rebecca’s, which highlight both the trauma of incarceration on acutely vulnerable people, and the threat to community safety in failing to provide a safe and therapeutic alternative to prison,” Glass said.
“There have been many reviews of secure therapeutic facilities over the years, all of which highlight the acute shortage of beds. Women with disabilities are particularly affected. It is good to see the state government’s recent investment in secure mental health facilities, although as we heard, the recent increase is not for cases like Rebecca’s.”
Ombudsman staff conducted a human rights-based inspection of the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, where Rebecca was detained, in July 2017. They found the prison was locking Rebecca in her cell for up to 23 hours a day because she was considered a risk to, and at risk from, other prisoners. They found she was struggling with personal hygiene, including showering, toileting and menstruation, and agencies had been trying to find more suitable accommodation for her for more than a year.
She was released from prison in late 2017, after spending more than 18 months in custody.
The Victorian government has accepted all eight of Glass’s recommendations, including that it should request the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission review policies and practices for prisoners with mental impairment at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.
The minister for mental health, ageing and disability, Matin Foley, said the government would consider how to “increase access to secure mental health facilities for people with complex needs”. The government had invested $43m in additional 44 beds at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.
