Veronica Nelson treated inhumanely earlier than jail demise, jail officer concedes

CCTV reveals Brown, nurse Atheana George and two other jail officers provide Nelson with paracetamol though a cell lure door about 1.30am. It was the last time employees noticed her alive.

During Brown’s nightshift, the coroner heard Nelson went on to make 9 further calls for assist over the prison intercom, including a ultimate two conversations Lacy described as “haunting” and “chilling”. Nothing was heard from Nelson after 4am. Her body was found later that morning.

Attending paramedics believed she had been dead for some time.

Taking to the witness stand for the primary time on Friday after a failed Supreme Courtroom fight to suppress her identification, Brown revealed she now believed she should’ve accomplished extra to help Nelson throughout her last hours.

Brown accepted she had an obligation of care to Nelson and may have gone to test on the 37-year-old after the inmate grew to become unresponsive during her final intercom name. She additionally accepted Nelson was deprived of “enough” medical care during her keep and not treated humanely.

The jail officer was also essential of the medical care provided to inmates and the situation through which some arrived on the Yarra unit. She mentioned night nurses usually refused to stroll the 200 metres from the medical unit to the Yarra unit to see patients during the evening.

Jail officers aren't permitted to call triple zero and extra senior staff would have to be contacted to do that in any emergency, Brown stated.

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

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

Nathwani mentioned within the assessment, Dame Phyllis Frost normal supervisor Tracey Jones said she was “proud” of the best way Nelson was handled in her remaining hours and that Brown “sensitively managed the intercom calls”.

Prison CCTV reveals Tracey Brown, far right, attending Nelson’s prison cell alongside nurse Atheana George about 1.30am the day of Nelson’s death.

On the stand, Brown disagreed. Jones is due to give evidence next week.

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