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.
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
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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