Prison treatment of Indigenous teenager Cleveland Dodd was cruel, lawyer tells inquest
Author: Australian Associated Press
Trigger warnings: isolation, restraint, medical neglect, denial of basic needs, suicide, racial trauma
Summary:
An inquest into the death of 16-year-old Indigenous boy Cleveland Dodd heard that he endured “institutional abuse” and “cruel and inhumane” treatment at Unit 18 of Casuarina prison in Perth. Cleveland spent more than 22 hours a day confined in his cell for most of his detention and had no running water, requesting water multiple times before fatally self-harming. Lawyers described systemic failures and an epidemic of self-harm among mostly Aboriginal youth in the facility. Cleveland died on October 19, 2023.