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ELIZABETH JACKSON: The West Australian coroner will ask the Director of Public Prosecutions to consider laying charges over the death of a man who effectively baked to death in the back of a prison van.

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The Aboriginal elder known as Mr Ward was being driven in the van through searing temperatures of the Goldfields last January.

The air conditioning unit wasn't working and the temperature inside the van reached more than 50 degrees.

The 46-year-old man suffered third degree burns when his body came into contact with the hot metal floor of the van.

The coroner said the Corrective Services Department, the contracting company GSL, and the two officers who drove the man were all responsible for his death.

The company, now called G4S, has told Saturday AM that the two guards have now been suspended and could be sacked.

But the family wants to see charges laid.

David Weber reports from Perth.

DAVID WEBER: The man, known as Mr Ward, died of heatstroke after being transported through the Goldfields in soaring temperatures.

The coroner criticised the two GSL officers who drove the van for not checking whether the air conditioning was working. He also said their evidence to the inquest was unreliable and untruthful.

Spokesman for the company Tim Hall says action has now been taken.

TIM HALL: The two employees have been suspended and the findings of the coroner, the coroner's report and recommendations will be considered carefully and it will then be decided what the next step should be.

DAVID WEBER: So they could be sacked?

TIM HALL: There are many options. There are a number of options, yes.

DAVID WEBER: What is the company's reaction to the coroner's criticism of the company, because it's not just the two employees?

TIM HALL: The criticism of the company related in particular to our procedures and processes. We accept that there was some ground there for criticism.

DAVID WEBER: Has there been any thought of providing some kind of compensation to the family of Mr Ward?

TIM HALL: No. And that is perhaps premature. No, this is not an issue that has arisen as yet. If it arises in the future then of course we'll consider it.

DAVID WEBER: Does this place this contract with the Government or any other contract in jeopardy?

TIM HALL: We don't believe it does. We don't discuss contracts or the reasons for us having contracts or not having contracts, so it's entirely up to our customers to decide if we should continue to have contracts or not.

DAVID WEBER: How does the company react to I guess the tone of the coroner's criticisms; for instance there's one line here, a question which is raised by the case, is how society, which would like to think of itself as being civilised, could allow a human being to be transported in such circumstances?

TIM HALL: They're disturbing comments aren't they; and we're disturbed by them.

DAVID WEBER: The State Government says the coroner's recommendations have been acted on or are being acted on.

But the Government has admitted that the prisoner transport fleet won't be fully replaced until sometime next year.

The Warburton community welcomes change because they don't want this to happen again.

But, as Mr Ward's cousin Daisy Ward says, they also want charges to be laid.

DAISY WARD: If they could change the system around and work with, like got to work together like as with real people, not treat us like an animal. It will happen to someone else as well if we don't start doing things and treat people equal.

DAVID WEBER: If the company was charged, or if indeed the department was charged, would that help bring some closure for the family and the community?

DAISY WARD: It will. The community wants to see that they are punished and charged and the company to stand down because of what they've done, what they didn't do with the air con, and for not doing their duty of care.

ELIZABETH JACKSON: Daisy Ward speaking to David Weber in Perth.

And you can see my namesake Liz Jackson's full report on Mr Ward next Monday night on Four Corners.

Listen to full interview with GSL and Daisy Ward

 http://www.abc.net.a...09/s2597332.htm

(2) Coroner's damning findings on elder's prison van death

By David Weber for PM

Posted Fri Jun 12, 2009 6:08pm AEST
Updated Fri Jun 12, 2009 11:57pm AEST

The West Australian Coroner has given his findings in the case of a man who was effectively cooked to death in the back of a prison van.

Last January an Aboriginal elder known as Mr Ward was being driven in the back of the van through the searing temperatures of The Goldfields.

The air-conditioning unit was not working and the temperature inside reached 50 degrees Celsius.

Before he died, the 46-year-old from Warburton suffered third-degree burns where his body touched the hot metal floor.

Coroner Alistair Hope handed down his long-awaited findings on Friday.

Mr Hope said Mr Ward died as a result of heat stroke which was caused by grossly excessive heat in the pod in the transit van taking him from Laverton to Kalgoorlie.

He said Mr Ward suffered a "terrible death" that was "wholly unnecessary and avoidable" and he died as a result of a "litany of errors".

He accused the people driving the prison van of collusion and giving false evidence.

He also said the fact the prison van did not have a spare tyre was an indication of the transport company's "reckless" approach to prisoner safety.

He said it was a disgrace that a prisoner in the 21st Century, particularly someone who was not convicted, was transported such a distance in such a compartment.

The Coroner expressed his disgust at the state of the compartment, saying it had all-metal surfaces, very little light, and no restraints to protect the person inside if the vehicle had come to grief in some way.

There was a lack of air flow and there was no proper method of communication between the pod and the drivers.

He said there was a panic button in the back but it was not prominent and only set off a light in the driver's compartment which could not be seen in daytime.

The fan did not work when it was tested, the air-conditioning was not working, and in any case the air-conditioning was not appropriate to be driving people such long distances in remote areas.

He said it was difficult to imagine a more uncomfortable environment.

West Australian Attorney General Christian Porter has called the incident tragic and avoidable.

Mr Porter says he expects Mr Ward's family will apply to him for a compensation payment but would not say how much would be offered.

He also has not ruled out a $100,000 contractual penalty against the prison transport company, GSL.

"The contractors have moved those two employees from Kalgoorlie to Perth, and they are no longer involved in prisoner transport," he said.

"Perhaps if that $100,000 penalty was applied, that might go to Mr Ward's family in the nature of a compensatory payment."

Arbitrary and inflexible

The Coroner said there were two pods on the vehicle; one directly behind the cabin, which was not so bad - there was cushioning on the seats and there was the possibility of opening windows.

But there was an "arbitrary and inflexible" rule that all prisoners should be considered high risk in the case when there is only one person being transported, and should be placed further away from the cabin.

In their evidence, the officers driving the van had said that they thought the air-conditioning was working.

No action was taken against the officers by their company GSL.

A GSL representative said they had not broken any of the procedures or rules.

The officers said they did not know why they did not check on Mr Ward during the four-hour journey.

When they heard what sounded like a fall, when Mr Ward hit the bottom of the pod, they realised that something was wrong.

The Coroner said that it appeared that Mr Ward died fairly early in the trip because he was given around 600mls of water to drink and there was still some water in the bottle when he was found unconscious in the back of the van.

Some GSL staff had been complaining for some time that the vehicles were not roadworthy for such long distances.

Dennis Eggington from the West Australian Aboriginal Legal Service says the Coroner conducted a thorough investigation into Mr Ward's death.

"His investigation and findings have proven that there's alot to be answered and people really need to be aware there are a couple of departments that have got blood on their hands at the moment," he said.

 http://www.abc.net.a.../12/2597089.htm


(3) Coroner Alastair Hope finds Mr Ward's death wholly avoidable

Aleisha Preedy, AAP
June 12, 2009 05:30pm

THE Coroner has found that "inhumane" treatment led to the death of an Aboriginal elder in the back of a prison van on a scorching day in outback WA.

WA Coroner Alastair Hope said the death of Mr Ward, 46, whose first name cannot be released for cultural reasons, was ``unnecessary and avoidable''.

Mr Hope criticised the company that owned the van and transported Mr Ward on a 360km journey between the Goldfields towns of Laverton and Kalgoorlie, and accused its custodial guards of colluding in their evidence.

He found the company, Global Solutions Ltd (GSL), the two guards, Nina Stokoe and Graham Powell, and the Department of Corrective Services had all contributed to Mr Ward's ``terrible death'' on January 27 last year.

The coroner found the father of four, from the Goldfields town of Warburton, died of heatstroke when he succumbed to temperatures of 50 degrees celsius inside the van on a searing day.

The court was told that after being picked up for drink-driving the day before, Mr Ward was transported in a van whose prisoner's compartment had no air-conditioning and little air flow.

Mr Hope said Ms Stokoe and Mr Powell, who provided Mr Ward with only a 600ml bottle of water and did not check on him throughout the journey, had breached their duty of care.

He said Mr Ward had no proper method of communicating with the guards, who had colluded on their evidence before being interviewed by police about the death.

The hearing was told that when Mr Ward eventually arrived unconscious at Kalgoorlie hospital, his body was so hot that staff had been unable to cool him down.

Even after an ice bath he had a body temperature of 41.7 degrees.

He had a laceration to his head from falling in the vehicle and a 9cm third degree burn to his stomach from lying on its hot metal floor.

Mr Hope said the department had failed to provide GSL with proper means of transport and that the vehicle was ``not fit for humans''.

The prison van did not have a spare tyre, indicating GSL's ``reckless approach'' towards the transport of prisoners, he said.

``In my view, it is a disgrace that a prisoner in the 21st Century, particularly a prisoner who has not been convicted of any crime, was transported for a long distance in high temperatures in this pod,'' Mr Hope said.

Among his 14 recommendations, he said the State Government must improve its handling of prisoners and review its justice system.

In response, WA Attorney-General Christian Porter said action had already been taken to prevent another ``tragic incident'' and pledged $3 million and a rollout of 40 new custodial vehicles by December 2010.

``Things have improved substantially and I intend to see they improve further,'' Mr Porter said.

``But it now falls to this government to repair the system that allowed this quite shocking event to occur.''

About 40 protesters demonstrated outside Perth's Central Law Courts, where the coroner delivered his findings.

The Deaths in Custody Watch Committee called for improved human rights for Aboriginal people, while Amnesty International called it ``a disgrace that a prisoner should be transported in this way in the 21st century''.

Aboriginal Legal Services of WA CEO Dennis Eggington said Mr Ward's family was happy with the recommendations but wanted criminal charges laid against the government.

 http://www.news.com....625-948,00.html

(4) Coroner calls for criminal charges in prisoner death
12th June 2009, 17:15 WST

State Coroner Alastair Hope will ask the Director of Public Prosecutions to consider whether criminal charges should be laid after investigating the death of an Aboriginal elder who died of heatstroke in the back of a prison van last year.

Delivering his findings this afternoon, Mr Hope was critical of the Government’s maintenance of prison transport vehicles and the guards who transported Mr Ward, who died after the air-conditioning in the back of a transport van broke down while it was taking him from Laverton to Kalgoorlie.

Mr Hope said he would forward the case to the Director of Public Prosecutions, adding that the Department of Corrective Services, transport contractor GSL and the officers that transported Mr Ward had breached their care of duty.

Mr Ward had third-degree burns and hyperthermia after the surface temperature in the van hit 50C.

The inquest into his death revealed problems with the transport vehicles and procedural failures by employees of transport contractor GSL.

Mr Hope suggested that evidence from the two GSL officers transporting Mr Ward was unreliable at times, untruthful and even had “a sinister aspect”, querying whether they had colluded to put a shirt on Mr Ward to conceal that he had experienced difficulties with the heat during the trip.

The inquest was told the two guards had not checked that the air-conditioning was working before putting Mr Ward into the metal pod and even a competent person would have known the importance of that.

Mr Hope said the van Mr Ward had died in was “not fit for humans” and the department had failed to ensure that GSL did not use “inhumane” and unroadworthy vehicles.

During the findings, Mr Hope spoke of chronic problems with the fleet, mentioning one vehicle had parts held together with duct tape.

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He said the department had known the ageing fleet was becoming increasingly hazardous to use, yet did not restrict their use.

He said the vehicles were never meant to be used on long-distance trips in hot weather.

He said the tragedy highlighted the dangers of privatising services where the government owed a duty of care, saying that GSL had failed to ensure prisoner safety and had not reviewed its policies or procedures to make sure prisoners were treated appropriately.

Mr Hope said the tragedy had been a breach of Australia’s international legal obligations to prevent cruel or inhumane treatment, describing the treatment of Mr Ward as degrading.

He recommended a raft of changes to legal processes and procedures regarding the maintenance and use of prison vehicles.

Responding to the findings, Attorney-General Christian Porter said Mr Ward’s death was a miserable and tragically avoidable event.

Mr Porter said it was difficult to guarantee a similar event would never happen again, but significant improvements to the transport fleet, which would be completely replaced by the end of 2010, and procedural changes had been implemented in the wake of the death.

He said legal advice was being sought on provisions relating to the termination of the contract, but he expected that it would have been more appropriate to consider this option immediately after the death.

Kalgoorlie MP John Bowler urged the Government to invoke a $100,000 contractual penalty against GSL and to give the money to Mr Ward’s family.

However Mr Porter said the penalty was “ridiculously low” and would be reviewed before the contract was put out to tender next year.

He was reluctant to consider giving the $100,000 to Mr Ward’s family, saying he did not think it should limit the likely application they would make for an ex-gratia payment.

The Aboriginal Legal Services of WA urged Premier Colin Barnett to publicly commit to all the Coroner’s recommendations following the investigation of the death of an Aboriginal elder who died of heatstroke in the back of a van in the Goldfields last year.

"Failure to prioritise the recommendations from the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody has led to the ongoing tragedy of people dying in custody and it has to end now," ALSWA CEO Dennis Eggington said.

The ALSWA said it had long-held concerns about the practice of transporting prisoners, saying the inquest pointed towards the need for an urgent review and dramatic changes in the way prisoners were transported, policing practices with regard to the granting of bail and a review of the role of justices of peace in court.

“Would this have happened if Mr Ward was not an Aboriginal man?” Mr Eggington asked.

“This is a wake-up call to Australia. The world has seen how you treat Aboriginal people.”

Former Minister for Corrective Services Margaret Quirk claimed some responsibility for the death in an interview with television program Four Corners, to be aired on Monday night.

Ms Quirk said she had failed to convince her Cabinet colleagues to spend the money needed to replace the fleet of ageing transport vans, such asthe one in which Mr Ward had died.

"It’s the biggest regret of my public life... I think we were negligent and I myself regard myself as personally responsible,” Mr Quirk told Four Corners.

The Department of Corrective Services revealed yesterday that more than 60 faults with the State Government-owned prisoner transport vehicles had been reported in the 16 months since Mr Ward literally cooked inside one of the vans in searing summer temperatures.

The faults ranged from flat tyres to vehicle breakdowns but also include nine reports involving air-conditioning problems.

In a submission to then corrective services minister Margaret Quirk in November 2006, the Aboriginal Legal Service highlighted the “inhumane” and “completely unacceptable” treatment of prisoners during transport and specifically drew attention to vehicle breakdowns and air-conditioning failures.

A report by then Inspector of Custodial Services Richard Harding in May 2007, which followed a similar report in late 2001, also warned that the state of the vehicles and problems with air-conditioners meant breakdowns were “potentially a life threatening event.”

Mr Eggington said the continued failures in the transport fleet, which will be replaced by the end of next year, were evidence of a broader problem and provided a compelling case for minimising the transfer of offenders around the State.

He supported the push to give the $100,000 penalty to Mr Ward’s family.

Ms Quirk said she considered resigning in the days after Mr Ward’s death and accepted responsibility for the incident, but believed systemic failures and complacency were to blame for the tragedy.

PERTH

CHRISTIANA JONES, AMANDA BANKS and STAFF REPORTERS

 http://www.thewest.c...ontentID=147578

(5) Prison van death ‘unnecessary and avoidable’

13 June 2009 | 09:46:08 AM | Source: AAP

The Director of Public Prosecutions will be asked to consider criminal charges in the case of an Aboriginal elder who was effectively cooked in the back of a prison van on a scorching day in the West Australian outback.

WA Coroner Alastair Hope said he would ask the DDP to consider whether charges should be laid after finding the death of Mr Ward, 46, whose first name cannot be released for cultural reasons, was "unnecessary and wholly avoidable".

‘Horror’ journey in extreme heat

Mr Hope found "inhumane treatment" led to Mr Ward's death from heat stroke in the pod of the commercially owned prison van, which had no air conditioning and little or no air flow.

He criticised the transport company, Global Solutions Ltd (GSL), for arranging Mr Ward's horror 360km journey between the Goldfields towns of Laverton and Kalgoorlie, and accused its custodial guards of colluding in their evidence.

He found the company, the two guards, Nina Stokoe and Graham Powell, and the Department of Corrective Services had all contributed to Mr Ward's "terrible death" on January 27 last year.

Duty of care breached

The coroner found the father of four, from the Goldfields town of Warburton, died of heat stroke when he succumbed to temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius inside the van on a searing day, after being picked up for drink-driving the previous day.

Mr Hope said Ms Stokoe and Mr Powell, who provided Mr Ward with only a 600ml bottle of water and did not check on him throughout the journey, had breached their duty of care.

He said Mr Ward had no proper method of communicating with the guards, who had colluded before giving unreliable evidence to police about the death.

The hearing was told that when Mr Ward eventually arrived unconscious at Kalgoorlie hospital, his body was so hot that staff had been unable to cool him down.

Even after an ice bath he had a body temperature of 41.7 degrees.

He had a laceration to his head from falling in the vehicle and a 9cm third degree burn to his stomach from lying on its hot metal floor.

Transportation ‘not fit for humans’

Mr Hope said the department had failed to provide GSL with proper means of transport and that the vehicle was "not fit for humans".

The prison van did not have a spare tyre, indicating GSL's "reckless approach" towards the transport of prisoners, he said.

"In my view, it is a disgrace that a prisoner in the 21st Century, particularly a prisoner who has not been convicted of any crime, was transported for a long distance in high temperatures in this pod," Mr Hope said.

Among his 14 recommendations, he said the state government must improve its handling of prisoners and review its justice system.

Preventative measures being taken

In response, WA Attorney-General Christian Porter said action had already been taken to prevent another "tragic incident" and pledged $3 million and a rollout of 40 new custodial vehicles by December 2010.

"Things have improved substantially and I intend to see they improve further," Mr Porter said.
"But it now falls to this government to repair the system that allowed this quite shocking event to occur."

About 40 protesters demonstrated outside Perth's Central Law Courts, where the coroner delivered his findings.

The Deaths in Custody Watch Committee called for improved human rights for Aboriginal people, while Amnesty International called it "a disgrace that a prisoner should be transported in this way in the 21st century".

Aboriginal Legal Services of WA CEO Dennis Eggington said Mr Ward's family was happy with the recommendations but wanted criminal charges laid against the government.

 http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1028192/Prison-van-death-'unnecessary-and-avoidable ’

(6) Elder's family may sue after prison van death

ABC Local online article:

The family of a Western Australian Aboriginal elder who died from heatstroke after being transported in a prison van is considering a civil lawsuit.

In January last year, Mr Ward was transported hundreds of kilometres across the Goldfields in 40 degree-plus heat in a van that had faulty air conditioning.

Mr Ward spent four hours in the searing heat and suffered third-degree burns where his body touched the hot metal floor.

WA Coroner Alastair Hope found Mr Ward was effectively cooked to death during the trip.

Mr Hope concluded that Mr Ward's death was completely avoidable and that the Department of Corrective Services, the company who managed the prisoner transfer fleet and the two staff who drove the vehicle all contributed to his death.

Mr Ward's family has told the ABC they are considering suing the company that ran the prison van fleet.

His cousin Daisy Ward says the transport company offered to travel to Warburton to apologise to the family.

But she says they turned down the offer.

"We all said that it was too late and that what happened they could have come forward to us and apologised to us earlier on," she said.

Ms Ward thanked the Coroner for his investigations and says she hopes it will lead to better treatment for prisoners.

"[I hope] that the prisoners are well treated and that [there is] no more using those vehicles anymore," she said. "Just get those vehicles out."

WA Attorney-General Christian Porter says he expects the family to seek compensation from the State Government.

"It seems to me that in these circumstances they are ripe for an application to be made," he said.

"I would seek advice on it, I don't want to prejudge that advice but it would seem to me if ever there was a case where an ex gratia would ever be appropriate then this is one."

Guards suspended

The company, G4S, has suspended the two guards who were driving the van.

Spokesman for the company Tim Hall has told AM action has now been taken.

"The two employees have now been suspended and the findings of the coroner, the coroner's report and recommendations will be considered carefully," he said.

"It will then be decided what the next step should be."

Corrective Services Commissioner Ian Johnson says he will do everything to ensure the death of Mr Ward is never repeated.

He would not be interviewed, but in a statement he says his department has made significant changes to the prisoner transport system since Mr Ward's death.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International has welcomed the Coroner's report.

Amnesty Indigenous rights campaigner Rodney Dillon believes the inquest's findings expose violations of Australia's human rights obligations.

"It shows how little respect they have for Aboriginal people in this country and I think there's going to have to be huge gaps and bridges made here," he said.

"When people have got power over our people in remote communities like this, this are the sort of things that happen and I'm really glad that this Coroner has made some of these statements."

(7) Watch video and listen to reports on Coroner’s findings here:

 http://www.abc.net.a....htm?site=local

**Four Corners story on Mr Ward**


This week on the Four Corners programme, Liz Jackson reports on Mr Ward's death.

In a story titled Who Killed Mr Ward? she reveals a shocking story of a well-respected community leader who was locked in a metal cell in the back of a prison van and driven through the desert in searing heat. Four hours later he was dead.

The air temperature inside his cell was over 47 degrees, and the metal surface reached 56 degrees.

In the story a local Justice of the Peace, who refused Mr Ward bail says he was unaware that Mr Ward was a well-respected, well-connected man.

"No, no. He was an Aboriginal in a very drunken state or very groggy state. That's all I knew him as," the Justice of the Peace said.

The guards driving the prison van did not stop to check on his welfare or see if he needed a toilet break, food or water until, they say, they heard a thud from the back.

Even then they did not unlock both the cell doors, and instead threw water on Mr Ward through the chained-up inner door.

"We don't treat animals like that. We don't treat our pets like that. People get put in jail for treating another...another creature the same as Mr Ward was treated." -Dennis Eggington, Aboriginal Legal Service of WA.

The Minister for Corrective Services at the time, Margaret Quirk, also tells Ms Jackson, that she could not convince her Cabinet colleagues to spend money to replace the ageing prison van fleet.

"It's the biggest regret of my life," she said. I think we were negligent and I myself regard myself as personally responsible."

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