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

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

During Brown’s nightshift, the coroner heard Nelson went on to make nine additional calls for assist over the prison intercom, together with a last two conversations Lacy described as “haunting” and “chilling”. Nothing was heard from Nelson after 4am. Her body was discovered later that morning.

Attending paramedics believed she had been dead for a while.

Taking to the witness stand for the first time on Friday after a failed Supreme Court docket fight to suppress her identification, Brown revealed she now believed she should’ve performed more to assist Nelson during her last hours.

Brown accepted she had a duty of care to Nelson and may have gone to verify on the 37-year-old after the inmate grew to become unresponsive during her remaining intercom name. She also accepted Nelson was deprived of “enough” medical care during her stay and never treated humanely.

The prison officer was also essential of the medical care offered to inmates and the condition during which some arrived on the Yarra unit. She said night time nurses often refused to walk the 200 metres from the medical unit to the Yarra unit to see sufferers during the evening.

Prison officers will not be permitted to call triple zero and extra senior workers would must be contacted to try this in any emergency, Brown stated.

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

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

Nathwani mentioned in the assessment, Dame Phyllis Frost common manager Tracey Jones said she was “proud” of the way Nelson was treated in her ultimate hours and that Brown “sensitively managed the intercom calls”.

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

On the stand, Brown disagreed. Jones is because of give evidence subsequent week.

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