Veronica Nelson handled inhumanely before jail demise, prison officer concedes

CCTV shows Brown, nurse Atheana George and two other jail officers present Nelson with paracetamol though a cell trap door about 1.30am. It was the last time staff noticed her alive.

Throughout Brown’s nightshift, the coroner heard Nelson went on to make 9 additional requires help over the prison intercom, including a last two conversations Lacy described as “haunting” and “chilling”. Nothing was heard from Nelson after 4am. Her physique was found later that morning.

Attending paramedics believed she had been dead for a while.

Taking to the witness stand for the primary time on Friday after a failed Supreme Court combat to suppress her identity, Brown revealed she now believed she should’ve done more to assist Nelson during her final hours.

Brown accepted she had a duty of care to Nelson and will have gone to test on the 37-year-old after the inmate became unresponsive during her ultimate intercom name. She additionally accepted Nelson was deprived of “ample” medical care during her keep and not treated humanely.

The prison officer was additionally critical of the medical care offered to inmates and the situation in which some arrived on the Yarra unit. She stated night nurses typically refused to walk the 200 metres from the medical unit to the Yarra unit to see sufferers during the night.

Prison officers are not permitted to name triple zero and extra senior workers would need to be contacted to try this in any emergency, Brown mentioned.

An post-mortem later discovered Nelson had the undiagnosed medical condition Wilkie’s syndrome, a uncommon but probably life-threatening gastrointestinal situation.

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

Nathwani stated within the assessment, Dame Phyllis Frost general supervisor Tracey Jones said she was “proud” of the way in which Nelson was treated in her final hours and that Brown “sensitively managed the intercom calls”.

Prison CCTV reveals Tracey Brown, far right, 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 because of give evidence subsequent week.

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