In what is emerging as a deadly pattern in Western Australia, a 39-year-old Aboriginal prisoner died tragically in Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital on March 22, after laying for several days in a brain-dead state.
The man's uncle told Green Left Weekly his nephew had collapsed in Acacia Prison days earlier and was initially treated with Panadol. Hours later, he passed into a coma from which he never recovered. Relatives suspect a brain aneurism was the cause.
He died as three guards sat around his bed, GLW was told. The man was in prison for driving offences.
Deaths in Custody Watch Committee (DICWC) spokesperson Marc Newhouse told GLW, "There is a pattern emerging in WA prisons of Aboriginal prisoners dying or nearly dying from such things as diabetes".
"There are larger numbers of people going to jail in WA, and many of them are Aboriginal. With the confusion of health services between Corrective Services and the Department of Health, combined with government funding cuts and privatisation, we're going to see more and more things go wrong."
DICWC (WA) is calling for an inquiry into the provision of health services in prisons.
"Really, people shouldn't be going to prison for these sorts of offences", Newhouse said. "In WA, a petty offence can result in a death sentence because of the way the system is designed to fail."