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Guards joked before prisoner died in outback

Debbie Guest

18 March 2009 - TWO guards responsible for transporting an Aboriginal elder 352km across the West Australian outback joked about how he must have been "freezing his balls off" hours before he died of heatstroke in the back of a corrective services van, an inquest has been told.

Giving evidence via video link yesterday, Global Solutions Ltd officer Nina Stokoe said she did not check that the air-conditioning in the back of the van was working - even though it had been faulty and the outside temperature had soared to 42C - because it was not part of procedure.

Ms Stokoe said she assumed the air-conditioning was working in the rear because there was no problem with the air-conditioning in the front cab and Ward, whose family does not want his last name published for cultural reasons, would have banged on the side of the van if there was a problem.

According to Ms Stokoe, during previous trips, other prisoners often complained that the air-conditioning was too cold, and she and fellow officer Graham Powell joked that, while they were too hot, Ward would be the opposite.

"I had a joke with Graham," she told the inquest into Ward's death. "(I said) I bet he's freezing his balls off while we're sitting here stinking hot."

Coroner Alastair Hope asked whether it would have been prudent to check the air- conditioning on such a hot day when it had been known to break down and Ward was in a section of the van with only metal seats.

"It (the air-conditioning) wasn't on the check list ... I wouldn't know how to check it,"
Ms Stokoe replied.

Ward died on January 27 last year after attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.
He was being transferred from Laverton to prison in Kalgoorlie after being arrested for drink driving on Australia Day.

Mr Hope was yesterday also told how the Kalgoorlie-based supervisor for GSL, Leanne Jenkins, warned her superiors just four months before Ward's death that someone would "eventually die" if the company's outdated and poorly maintained vans were not replaced.

Ms Jenkins said the only response she received was that any vehicles in need of repairs should not be driven. She said the two vans based at Kalgoorlie always had problems and were not suitable for long trips.

Ms Stokoe and Mr Powell made no stops on the 3 1/2-hour journey until they heard a thud in the back of the van when they were just outside Kalgoorlie.

When they pulled over to check on Ward, Ms Stokoe said, they did not open the van's back doors completely because it was not procedure and Ward might have been trying to escape.

"If he was mucking around and it was an escape attempt, we would look like idiots,"
she said.

After realising he only had a faint pulse, the officers rushed Ward to hospital.

The inquest continues today.

Source: The Australian

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