Media Release 22 April 2013 Officers standing around while Antonie Dixon dies – Howard League demands answers

The Howard League is calling for the Department of Corrections to be held to account for the failure in their duty of care to Antonie Dixon.

Prison Officers were unaware that an exception for unlocking Mr Dixon’s cell existed in their manual

and so they waited seven minutes until four staff were available, by which time he was dead.

In a damning Coroner’s report just released, Coroner Gary Evans states “it is unacceptable that an experienced officer should have been unaware of such a provision”.

Mr Dixon was also found to have been illegally restrained two days prior to this for 31 hours. To date no one has been held accountable for this.

Mr Dixon was suffering swollen infected hands from the restraints and dehydration from lack of water and was delirious and in a psychotic state. In this state he should have been transferred to a mental health facility, however Corrections did not call mental health services and the psychiatrist, employed by Waitemata District Health, who had seen him that day dec ided against transferring him as Mr Dixon was due to be sentenced the next day and a transferral would have interfered with that. Both the psychiatrist and the Northern Regional Manager of Corrections have admitted that in hindsight he should have been transferred.

As noted by the Coroner he would likely still be alive if he had been transferred to a mental health unit.

Although two days earlier he had attempted suicide by ripping up an unrippable anti-suicide gown to use as a ligature and had multiple head wounds from bashing himself against a wall this was not in his notes when he was transferred to Paremoremo. The notes recording this were somehow lost when he was transferred to the restraining bed at Paremoremo.

Although he had covered the camera in his cell which was meant to be monitoring him as he was “At Risk” and this was reported, nothing was done about it.

“The Howard League is calling for Department of Corrections accountability into the illegal restraining, lack of notes, non transfer to a mental health unit and lack of education of officers as to provisions in their service manual.” says spokesperson Madeleine Rose.

“The Minister in charge at the time, Judith Collins, and the current Minister Anne Tolley, need to come out and say what they are going to do about this and give assurances that it can’t happen again.”

“Regardless of the crimes prisoners may have committed they have a right to be protected from harm, whether from others or themselves, while they are in government custody.”

Please come along and support the Branch. New members welcome.

It is lamentable but perhaps understandable that when New Zealand is facing mass migration to Australia, growing inequality and some 270,000 children living in poverty that the Minister of Corrections should be involving herself in a smokescreen  of being seen to be hard on prison inmates over smoking, when there are demonstrably more pressing issues that need the Government’s urgent attention.

The newly minted Supplementary Order Paper presented to the House of Representatives by Minister Tolley which will have the effect of blocking recourse to Courts in relation to the smoking ban in prisons is offensive to human rights norms and amounts to bullying by a Government obviously embarrassed by its recent loss in the High Court.

Under international law as reflected in our Corrections Act, prison sentences must not be administered more restrictively than is reasonably necessary to ensure the maintenance of the law and the safety of the public, prison staff and the inmates. The Court correctly found that the Government’s blanket ban on smoking did not meet the aims of the Corrections Act, which is to ensure that prison sentences are administered in a safe, secure, humane and effective manner. Neither was it shown that the ban was reasonably necessary to ensure the maintenance of the law or the safety of the public, corrections staff of other prisoners.

It is ironic that many inmates are serving sentences because they “took the law into their own hands”, rather than turning to the Courts to seek relief. Now when inmates do just that and legitimately challenge the Government on its breaches of their fundamental rights, the Government shows a high handed disregard for its obligations and has no hesitation in blocking access to justice.”

ENDS

Media Contact

Michael Bott
Human Rights Lawyer

027 504 9209

The Howard League for Penal Reform says the Department of Corrections must improve its IT systems to prevent further suicides following a damning Coroner’s report.

The Coroner’s inquest into the suicide of Kerry Joll at Rimutaka Prison in May last year strongly criticises the Department for failing to update its IT systems so that staff can tell whether an inmate is a suicide risk.

The Department has refused to act on the Coroner’s advice, saying “improving our current information systems is regarded as not worth the benefits it would bring because of cost, complexity and the proportionately few incidents it would benefit.”

Howard League spokesperson Madeleine Rose says the Department’s attitude is shocking.

“Kerry Joll’s suicide could have been prevented if staff had been aware of his previous attempts and the factors that made him vulnerable to try again.

“Mr Joll had a long history of problems with alcohol and was in prison at the time on his tenth drink driving offence.  He had recently stopped his antidepressants and was known to be at risk of further attempts.

“This information was all available on Mr Joll’s records, however the Department’s IT systems weren’t able to give staff that information when they needed it.

“Coroners have repeatedly said this is an issue that needs to be addressed, and the Department’s attitude that human lives are ‘not worth the benefits’ is simply shocking”.

Inmates are eleven times more likely to commit suicide than the national average.

ENDS

Media contact: Madeleine Rose 027 2035565

The Howard League Wellington is deeply saddened by the sudden loss of Greg King and  our sincerest condolences go out to Greg’s wife, children and family.

As far as the League is concerned, Greg  was not just a  talented defence lawyer,  he was also a justice system reformer and his ongoing contribution will be sorely missed.

As an active member of the Wellington  branch of the League, Greg spoke recently at a branch meeting about his proposal for a “management court” system in New Zealand.

He studied community courts in the United States earlier this year whilst on the Eisenhower Fellowship. He was a strong and intelligent speaker. He spoke of how prison is often not effective at reforming or rehabilitating and is extremely expensive.  The management courts would combine punishment and help and encouragement for  individual defendants to address their underlying problems.

For Maori defendants there would be a strong cultural focus and encouragement to re-establish tribal links, values and support. The courts would focus on all of the offender’s criminality factors, such as drug dependence and rehabilitation, mental health, family violence issues, and employment.

Greg will be missed both personally and professionally. The Howard League will continue to advocate for his court reform ideas and his work will be honoured and advanced.

Contact:  Madeleine Rose 027 2035565