Inquest into the Death of Mason SHAHZAD
Deceased
Mason Shahzad
Demographics
40y, male
Date of death
2024-11-11
Finding date
2026-06-08
Cause of death
ligature compression of the neck (hanging)
AI-generated summary
Mason Shahzad, a 40-year-old sentenced prisoner serving 30 years for serious family violence offences, died by ligature hanging in his cell at Acacia Prison on 11 November 2024. He had a history of depression, PTSD, and a prior suicide attempt at arrest in 2021. Throughout his custody, he received regular mental health reviews, psychiatric medication (escitalopram), and management through prison risk protocols. At Acacia, he was housed in a single-occupancy cell consistent with mental health requirements. Before his death, he expressed frustration about delayed transfer of personal property from his previous prison. The coroner found that supervision, mental healthcare, physical healthcare, and emergency response were all adequate, and concluded his suicide was unexpected and unpredictable despite these safeguards. The coroner endorsed internal prison system improvements to property management and communication processes but identified no clinical errors or failures of care.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- depression
- PTSD
- distress from delayed personal property transfer
- concerns about antidepressant medication efficacy
Full text
Related cases
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —