Veronica Nelson handled inhumanely earlier than jail loss of life, prison officer concedes

CCTV exhibits Brown, nurse Atheana George and two different prison officers provide Nelson with paracetamol though a cell trap door about 1.30am. It was the final time workers noticed her alive.

During Brown’s nightshift, the coroner heard Nelson went on to make nine additional requires help over the prison intercom, including a final 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 docket combat to suppress her identity, Brown revealed she now believed she ought to’ve achieved extra to help Nelson during her closing hours.

Brown accepted she had an obligation of care to Nelson and should have gone to examine on the 37-year-old after the inmate turned unresponsive during her ultimate intercom name. She also accepted Nelson was deprived of “sufficient” medical care during her keep and never handled humanely.

The jail officer was additionally crucial of the medical care supplied to inmates and the situation through 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 patients during the night time.

Jail officers should not permitted to call triple zero and extra senior workers would have to be contacted to do that in any emergency, Brown said.

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

Rishi Nathwani, representing Nelson’s mother, was critical of Brown’s action and pressed the prison officer on an inside overview that praised her actions.

Nathwani stated within the overview, Dame Phyllis Frost normal supervisor Tracey Jones stated she was “proud” of the best way Nelson was treated in her last hours and that Brown “sensitively managed the intercom calls”.

Prison CCTV shows Tracey Brown, far proper, attending Nelson’s jail cell alongside nurse Atheana George about 1.30am the day of Nelson’s demise.

On the stand, Brown disagreed. Jones is due to give proof subsequent week.

Photos and audio contained on this story have been released to the media with permission from the household. For 24/7 disaster assist run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, contact 13YARN (13 92 76).