Cleveland Dodd: Mum grateful as coronial inquest into son’s Unit 18 death in detention fast-tracked

A coronial inquest into the death of Cleveland Dodd has been fast-tracked and will hold public hearings in April, less than six months after the Indigenous teenager took his own life inside the infamous Unit 18. Cleveland’s mother, Nadene Dodd, was on Friday notified that the highly-anticipated probe had been set down to begin on April 3. It is expected to run for about seven days. The news came one week after Ms Dodd laid her son to rest at a funeral in Meekatharra, attended by more than 300 heartbroken family and friends. The inquest is one of three ongoing investigations into the circumstances surrounding Cleveland’s death from inside his Unit 18 cell in the early hours of October 12. Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia last month released the interim findings from one of those probes — by the Department of Justice — which detailed a series of shocking failures. They included the fact a record of welfare checks on Cleveland the night he self-harmed appeared to have been fabricated, and that a broken vent used by the 16-year-old as a ligature point had gone unrepaired for nearly a month. As first revealed by The West Australian, a senior youth custodial officer on duty that night is also believed to have been sleeping in their office at the time of the tragedy, delaying guards’ access to Cleveland’s cell to provide first aid. The Corruption and Crime Commission took the rare step of confirming it too had taken an interest in the incident following an allegation of serious misconduct relating to a public officer. Ms Dodd said she hoped the inquest — which can compel witnesses to provide public testimony — would provide a fuller picture of how and why Cleveland came to end his life. “I want people to be held to account,” she said. “The things that have come out so far are unbelievable. I hear them, but I can’t believe them.” Ms Dodd added she was thankful for the rapid turnaround of the inquest, a process that is often dragged out for years leaving devastated families in limbo. By comparison, it took the Coroner’s Court 16 months to hold public hearings into the death of seven-year-old Aishwarya Aswath, who waited two hours for treatment at Perth Children’s Hospital. Lower-profile deaths often take far longer to be investigated. Gerry Georgatos, founder of the National Suicide Prevention and Trauma Recovery Project, said he hoped the inquest would “lead to unprecedented changes and reforms” but maintained a royal commission into Unit 18 was needed. “In 2016, Malcolm Turnbull called a royal commission into (NT juvenile detention centre) Don Dale,” Mr Georgatos said. “We have just concluded a commission of inquiry into Tasmania’s Ashley Youth Detention Centre. Banksia Hill and Unit 18 are much worse and a royal commission is the only means to shatter their secrecies.” The Cook Government has already announced plans to shut Unit 18 — which sits within the maximum-security adult Casuarina Prison — and replace it with a “high security” but “therapeutic” youth detention centre to be constructed alongside Banksia Hill. However, there is no estimated timeframe for the new prison which has so far received just $1 million in funding that will be used to develop a detailed plan and business case. Lifeline: 13 11 14.

Cleveland Dodd: Mum grateful as coronial inquest into son’s Unit 18 death in detention fast-tracked

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