A former Don Dale Youth Detention Centre director who was in charge when boys were tear-gassed has told the Northern Territory youth justice inquiry the facility was in crisis.
It was under former general manager Russell Caldwell's watch that boys were gassed, spithooded and shackled in August 2014 after one escaped from solitary confinement and began trashing an exercise yard.
The 14-year-old youth had been held in isolation for 17 days straight, for up to 23 hours a day.
Mr Caldwell told the juvenile justice royal commission that by that point Don Dale was in crisis and he "began to lose grip on the strategic direction ... and operational matters."
He agreed poorly trained, overworked guards were dealing with teens being locked down for extended periods in filthy, disgusting and hot cells.
Mr Caldwell said he could not recall any breaches of law or policies in the use of force against detainees or isolation, and was not aware of findings from the NT Children's Commissioner detailing excessive incidents of both.
He knew about legal requirements restricting the isolation of detainees for longer than 24 hours, or for longer than 72 hours without the approval of the Corrections Commissioner.
But the law didn't anticipate the dysfunctional scenario he had to manage in real time, so he welcomed the commissioner's offer of rotating 72-hour isolation stints for two teens, Mr Caldwell said.
He insisted that at the time of the gassing there wasn't a secure space to hold them anywhere else.
"I had to do it in a way that was legal ... but the reality was it wasn't possible to do that," he said.
"I was trying to solve an accommodation problem ... I do accept that it was wholly unsuitable."
RELATED READING
Dying better than Don Dale isolation: girl
In May 2013, Mr Caldwell prepared a cabinet submission requesting $9.2 million for urgently needed new infrastructure, but only $5 million for the refurbishment of Don Dale was approved.
A 2014 internal review found that 21 of 71 staff members had no qualifications in the minimal assault response training, only 27 had first aid and 33 had completed suicide intervention training.
Mr Caldwell said he hadn't seen that audit report until one day ago.
Images of former inmate Dylan Voller spithooded and shackled to a restraint chair shocked the nation last year, but Mr Caldwell said the incident was never brought to his attention.
"I've never seen that restraint chair or a spithood," he said.
Voller's lawyer Peter O'Brien asked whether he left the detention centre to be run by a pack of thugs, because he didn't care.
"No, certainly not," Mr Caldwell said.
A girl with a history of attempting suicide when placed in isolation self harmed six times over five days at Don Dale after being locked down yet again in March 2015.
Mr Caldwell said staff were ill-equipped to deal with such mental health issues and admitted he didn't step in to stop the disastrous pattern.
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Local Aboriginal Medical Service available from www.vibe.com.au.
Share
