Inquest into the death of Tracylee BRANNIGAN
Deceased
Tracylee Brannigan
Demographics
42y, female
Date of death
2013-02-24
Finding date
2014-06-16
Cause of death
Heroin toxicity, self-administered
AI-generated summary
Tracylee Brannigan, a 42-year-old woman in custody at Dillwynia Correctional Centre, died from heroin toxicity on 24-25 February 2013. The coroner found she self-administered a potentially fatal dose of heroin after being locked in her cell at 3:30pm on 24 February. Allegations that she appeared drug-affected during a visitor contact earlier that day were rejected as not credible based on CCTV evidence and expert pharmacological assessment. The coroner found no systemic failures in her care, rejecting suggestions that inadequate searches, cell monitoring, or educational programs contributed to her death. The coroner acknowledged that corrections officers acted appropriately in their observations and assessment. A single recommendation was made: consideration of random cell searches at or shortly after afternoon lockdown to identify contraband that may be secreted outside cells during the day.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- availability of illicit drugs in correctional facility
- inmate's known drug-seeking behaviour and addiction
- heroin as inmate's drug of choice
Coroner's recommendations
- That consideration should be given to the implementation of random searches of cells at, or shortly after, the afternoon lockdown with particular attention being given to cells occupied by inmates that are known, or reasonably suspected, to be users of illicit substances whilst in custody.
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