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Death in custody guard told of 'bloody hot' van

31 January 2008 - A GUARD sobbed as she told a hospital doctor it was "bloody hot" in the back of the van in which Aboriginal leader Ian Ward was locked for up to 4½ hours before he collapsed, vomited and died on the weekend.

The temperature outside the van climbed to 43C on Sunday as the father of five was driven 352km by two court guards from Laverton to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia in a sealed rear compartment that investigators suspected was not airconditioned.

Witness Jodie Aurisch, a Kalgoorlie receptionist, told The Australian she was in her local hospital's emergency department waiting to see a doctor when Mr Ward's lifeless body was wheeled in at 4.30pm on Sunday. Ms Aurisch said she heard a female emergency department doctor approach the female guard in the waiting room and ask what had happened to Mr Ward.

She said the guard explained between sobs: "It's bloody hot in the back of the van."

Whether the airconditioning was functioning in the back of the eight-year-old van is crucial to the Major Crime Squad's investigation into the death of Mr Ward, former chairman of the desert community of Warburton, 1500km northeast of Perth in the Ngaanyatjarraku Lands.

The Australian has learnt that the van's airconditioning broke down late last year, but it was repaired, checked and cleared for service on January 1.

The two guards believed it was working that afternoon, according to the Transport Workers Union.

Inspector of Custodial Services Richard Harding describes the state Government's prison transport fleet, bought in 2000, as "clapped-out".

A police officer gave Mr Ward, 46, a meat pie and a bottle of water as he got into the back of the van in Laverton shortly before noon. He died after arriving at the hospital in Kalgoorlie about 4 1/2 hours later, according to a police statement.

Mr Ward had been en route to Goldfields Regional Prison in Kalgoorlie after being charged the previous night with drink-driving in the remote town of Laverton. His blood alcohol level was allegedly more than 0.2, and it was determined he must be remanded at the nearest jail because he was serving a suspended sentence for a driving offence.

Ms Aurisch said the guards were upset when they arrived with Mr Ward.

"After he had been taken in, a doctor came out to the waiting room and asked the female guard what happened," she said. "She told the doctor 'We came from Laverton, we were about five minutes away when we found him unconscious', and then she stopped for a little bit because she was in distress and crying. And then she said, 'It's bloody hot in the back of the van'."

A post-mortem inquiry, expected to be completed today, will determine if Mr Ward died of heat stroke.

By Paige Taylor

Source: http://www.news.com.au

Kalgoorlie Death In Custody Is Not The First One

31 January 2008 - Press Release: Project SafeCom

"Last weekend's death in custody of an Indigenous drink driving offender while in transit by van, an AIMS Van operated under the contract with the US company (***) Global Solutions Limited from the Western Desert to Kalgoorlie was not by any means the first serious incident by this company, the company also charged by the Federal government for the running of Immigration Detention camps, the company responsible also for transport of Immigration detainees and prisoners, and this death warrants a full, independent, and complete investigation, not just by the State government, but by an independent body," WA human rights group Project SafeCom said today.

Source: Project SafeCom

Further information: respected Aboriginal elder Mr Ian Ward - death in custody

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