Inmate who had seizure roughly handled by prison guards

A prisoner who suffered a seizure was handcuffed and placed in a spit hood by guards who left him naked in an “at-risk cell” before he died two days later.

During the inquest into his death, the Northern Territory corrections and health departments apologized to Wayne Hunt’s family on Monday for his treatment and told Coroner Elisabeth Armitage that procedural changes would be made.

Mr Hunt was just days away from being sentenced for dangerous driving causing death when the incident occurred at Darwin Prison on August 29, 2024.

He had just turned 56 and was considered healthy enough to serve his sentence.

Lawyer Mary Chalmers, assisting the coroner, said Mr Hunt’s assessment by medical staff and his treatment by prison officers would be reviewed.

Ms Chalmers told the inquest that two nurses and prison guards attended when a “code blue” medical emergency was called when Mr Hunt was having a seizure but his post-seizure agitation was interpreted by Department of Corrections staff as behavioral non-compliance.

Instead of being taken to the prison medical center for medical evaluation, Hunt was reportedly handcuffed and taken to an “at-risk” cell with a spit hood, where he was “stripped naked and left lying on the floor.”

He was kept on suicide watch by officers throughout the night rather than being observed by medical personnel.

Mr Hunt was found unresponsive on the floor of his cell the next morning and never actually regained consciousness as his life support was switched off in hospital two days later.

Ms Chalmers said Mr Hunt’s family and the community needed to know how a relatively healthy 56-year-old man who was taken into custody with his medication died within three days.

Mr Hunt was a butcher by trade but lost his leg and suffered brain damage in a motorbike accident in 2008.

In December 2022, Mr Hunt was driving in a supermarket car park when he accidentally hit and killed an 11-year-old boy.

He was using cannabis and pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death and was sentenced to three months in prison.

When he was released, he was sentenced to an additional nine months in prison after prosecutors appealed the initial sentence as inadequate.

A few days after this sentence, the incident in August 2024 occurred.

Ms Chalmers said the “confrontational” body camera footage would be shown during the investigation into Mr Hunt being moved to the at-risk room and was not what the community expected from agencies responsible for the care of people in custody, particularly a disabled man suffering from seizures.

Lawyer Michael McCarthy, acting for the NT Correctional Service, said the department acknowledged the pain and grief felt by Mr Hunt’s family.

He said the officers involved admitted they acted unprofessionally and regretted their actions.

Lawyer Paul Morgan read a statement from Mr Hunt’s wife, Rhonda Phillpps, who said they had been together for 20 years and that her husband, who had no children of his own, was a wonderful father to her children and 18 grandchildren.

“Everybody loved Wayne… if anyone needed help, Wayne was there for them.”

Ms Phillips said Mr Hunt was deeply remorseful for killing the boy in the supermarket.