Northern Territory police failed to act on a string of self-harm and suicide attempts in caged police vehicles before the death of a vulnerable 23-year-old man last year, a coroner has found.
NT coroner Greg Cavanagh has criticised police for failing to act on an internal report recommending CCTV cameras be installed in caged vehicles in 2013, following an earlier death in custody.
In the three years between the two deaths, there were at least 16 attempted suicides in caged vehicles.
“In six cases the persons were not detected until they were semi-conscious or unconscious,” Cavanagh found. “It wasn’t a matter of if a person would die in the back of a police van but when.”
On 16 September last year, two officers were making their way through Darwin, on their way to investigate a noise complaint, when they came across the scene of a serious crash. A Toyota Hilux had smashed into a palm tree on the corner of the Stuart Highway and Bargot Road, not far from Darwin airport.
Hiding behind some vegetation was Dale Scott Walkinshaw, 23. Walkinshaw was unharmed but held his passenger in his arms. The young woman, whom he had met earlier at a bar, was in and out of consciousness, having suffered an injury to her back.
Walkinshaw was well over the limit, returning a reading of 0.149. The coroner noted he expressed regular concern and distress over his passenger’s wellbeing. He was placed in the back of a caged vehicle, taken to the police station and then to the Royal Darwin hospital. When police arrived at the hospital, they immediately realised something was wrong.
“[The officer] opened the cage door,” the coroner found. “He found Dale sitting bolt upright with his head turned to the side. His tongue was out and his face grey.”
Walkinshaw was revived but suffered a serious brain injury. His life support was turned off three days later. The inquest into his death heard officers in the cabin of the vehicle had trouble seeing into the caged part.
Visibility was particularly poor in the dark and because of condensation on the window. Lights intended to illuminate the cage of the vehicle reflected into the cabin, making it even harder to see. Realistically, police could check on the cage’s occupant only by stopping the vehicle, getting out and opening the back door.
Similar visibility issues had been raised before the same coroner in 2013, after the death of Kwementyaye Briscoe, 27. Briscoe, an Indigenous man taken into “protective custody”, was able to consume a 700ml bottle of rum in the back of a caged vehicle before reaching the watch house.
He subsequently died due to a litany of errors and failures, which caused Cavanagh to criticise NT police for being derelict in their duty of care.
At the Walkinshaw inquest, police conceded they should have installed cameras in caged vehicles after the 2013 death. It would have cost about $823 per vehicle, or about $132,000 for the total fleet. Police conducted a successful trial in five vehicles but did not roll the cameras out more broadly.
“The reasons for that are not obvious,” Cavanagh found. “At the inquest the deputy commissioner told me that the project ‘dropped off the radar’.”
A large number of incidents since had prompted no further action. Two weeks before Walkinshaw’s death, Cavanagh made a recommendation in another inquest that CCTV cameras be installed in caged vehicles. He said the cameras might have led to a different outcome.
“It might be thought that if police had the ability to see what was happening in the cage at that time he [Walkinshaw] would not have been able to end his life so tragically,” he said.
Another CCTV trial was held this year. It was successful and the NT police now plan to install cameras in its entire fleet.
The NT police assistant commissioner, Michael Murphy, said in a statement that the force fully accepted the recommendations of the coroner and had already commenced work on each.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the family and regret the loss and pain they have endured,” Murphy said. “At this time we have one caged vehicle fitted with cameras and equipment, and will continue with the installation of this camera technology into our caged vehicles, aligning with the timelines I provided in the coronial inquest of between six and 12 months.”
At the inquest, the police, represented by Angus Stewart SC, conceded the cameras should have been installed earlier.
“I have instructions from the commissioner of the Northern Territory police to tell your honour firstly that the commissioner accepts that following the recommendations in 2013 with regards to the installation of CCTV in the cages of police vehicles, there should have been a rollout of that and there wasn’t,” Stewart said.
Cavanagh said police did not need “the benefit of hindsight” to appreciate what needed to be done.
“In my view, it is tragic that it took the death of this young man to focus the
minds of senior police,” he said.
- In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.
