Serco slammed over death of man in his prison cell
A Coroner who investigated a man’s suicide at an Auckland prison has slammed operator Serco for failing to clear the camera in his cell, which had been obscured for two weeks before he died.
Coroner Debra Bell has also criticised the company and the Department of Corrections for failing to provide evidence, including witness testimony and medical records, for her investigation.
Father-of-three Wayne Hotton killed himself on September 6, 2014, while on remand in Mt Eden Corrections Facility. The 45-yearold, who was facing drugs charges, would have taken ‘‘a number of days’’ to make preparations for his suicide, Coroner Bell’s report, released this week, said.
At the time of Hotton’s death, the prison was managed and operated by Serco under a publicprivate partnership.
Corrections took back control of the facility 10 months later following revelations of ‘‘fight clubs’’ within its walls.
Coroner Bell found the prison had been short-staffed for 15 months in the lead-up to the Auckland man’s death.
His cell had also not been searched for 25 days. However, Serco stressed its contract only required it to search cells every quarter.
Coroner Bell’s report also found the camera in Hotton’s cell had been ‘‘completely obscured’’ after he smeared a substance, probably toothpaste, over it 15 days before he died.
‘‘This should have immediately alerted prison authorities,’’ she said.
‘‘Serco should have acted promptly to ensure [the camera] was operational at all times.’’
Coroner Bell found the combination of staff shortages, the lack of cell searches and the obscured camera ‘‘provided opportunity to Mr Hotton to prepare for his suicide without his actions being detected earlier’’.
She noted the prison’s former management staff were no longer employed by Serco, and the com- pany had advised it had ‘‘not been possible to provide information from those people’’ for the inquest.
Corrections was also unable to locate Hotton’s original prison and medical files.
Consequently, ‘‘the evidence available on matters relevant to my determination was limited’’, she said.
Coroner Bell made no recommendations, saying Corrections had made a number of changes – including more frequent cell searches and increased staffing levels – since taking over management of the prison.
Hotton’s partner, Casey Harwood, said it was ‘‘really bizarre’’ that the obscured camera had not been fixed by prison staff. She also found the lack of records provided to the inquest ‘‘questionable’’.
She hoped the company would take the report on board: ‘‘I really hope it does change something.’’
In an emailed statement, Serco said it accepted the findings of the report.
It did not answer questions about the lack of information provided to the inquest.
Corrections chief custodial officer Neil Beales said all of Hotton’s ‘‘available’’ medical records were provided to the Coroner, but did not offer any further explanation on the matter.