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

CCTV exhibits Brown, nurse Atheana George and two other prison officers provide Nelson with paracetamol although 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 9 further calls for help over the prison intercom, including a final 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 useless for a while.

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

Brown accepted she had a duty of care to Nelson and should have gone to test on the 37-year-old after the inmate became unresponsive throughout her closing intercom call. She also accepted Nelson was disadvantaged of “enough” medical care during her keep and not treated humanely.

The jail officer was additionally essential of the medical care provided to inmates and the situation in which some arrived at the Yarra unit. She stated night nurses usually refused to walk the 200 metres from the medical unit to the Yarra unit to see patients during the night time.

Jail officers are usually not permitted to call triple zero and extra senior workers would should be contacted to do this in any emergency, Brown mentioned.

An post-mortem later found Nelson had the undiagnosed medical situation 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 internal overview that praised her actions.

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

Jail CCTV exhibits 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 because of give proof next week.

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