Coronial
NSWother

Inquest into the death of SH

Demographics

28y, male

Date of death

2020-01-19

Finding date

2023-08-16

Cause of death

neck compression from hanging

AI-generated summary

SH, a 28-year-old man, died by hanging in Cessnock Correctional Centre after seven weeks in custody. He was assessed at intake as having no self-harm risk and cleared for normal cell placement. During custody, he became distressed about relationship concerns and missing his daughters, expressing suicidal ideation to family members on 16 January. His transfer to maximum security on 17 January following alleged escape plan comments may have worsened his psychological state. On 19 January, he was moved to a cell without functioning lights after the knock-up alarm malfunctioned. His partner's cancelled visit that morning appeared to trigger acute hopelessness. Clinical lessons include: improving mental health screening processes; enabling family access to raise welfare concerns; developing protocols for cells with safety concerns; and considering impact of security transfers on vulnerable inmates.

AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.

Contributing factors

  • inadequate mental health assessment at intake despite later expressed suicidal ideation
  • transfer to maximum security on 17 January following alleged escape plan
  • placement in cell 4128 without functioning lights on 19 January despite safety concerns
  • cancelled partner visit on morning of death
  • inability of family members to contact correctional centre with welfare concerns
  • limited accessibility of mental health support information to families
  • presence of hanging point in cell bunk
  • lack of documented knock-up records for critical incident response

Coroner's recommendations

  1. Corrective Services NSW and Justice Health NSW conduct inter-agency consultations and implement measures aimed at further improving the provision or accessibility of information to families and next of kin who are concerned about an inmate's mental health
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