Doctor’s death prompts Corrections procedure review
The death of killer doctor Venod Skantha has forced a review of how courts communicate with prisons.
Questions have been raised as to how Otago Corrections Facility staff were not aware a Court of Appeal decision rejecting Skantha’s appeal bid had been released on Wednesday.
Skantha, who was convicted of murdering Dunedin teenager AmberRose Rush in 2018, is believed to have taken his own life at the prison near Milton in South Otago just hours after learning of the decision.
The court has since confirmed it is reviewing why there is no requirement to tell the Department of Corrections when a judgment is released.
High profile lawyer Nigel Hampton QC was surprised it was not already happening.
An adverse judgment was likely to have an emotional impact on an inmate, and it made sense that Corrections was told.
“It would at least put some possible safety net there to make sure that welfare is looked after,” he said.
“Obviously the Court of Appeal have turned their mind to it and are thinking ‘we should be doing better than this’, and so they should.”
Corrections conducts risk assessments with inmates in certain situations, but they only happen if staff became aware of the judgment through informal means, such as being told by a lawyer or the prisoner themselves.
Hampton described that system as haphazard and questioned whether a level of public apathy may have played a part “There is a general perception of ‘good riddance to bad rubbish’,” he said. “There’s this perception that a) prisoners shouldn’t be looked after, and b) they’re being looked after better than we are.”
Cos Jeffery, spokesman for prisoner advocacy organisation The Howard League, said he supported better communication between the courts and Corrections.
A Court of Appeal spokesperson confirmed when a decision impacts on a prisoner’s conviction or sentence, the court advises Corrections.
But if the inmate’s sentence or conviction is not impacted, as in Skantha’s case, there is no requirement for Corrections to be told.
That will be reviewed to consider whether different notifications should be given.