‘We want truth:’ Inquest to deliver findings on death of Cleveland Dodd, 16 – the first child to die in West Australian custody
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this story contains the name and image of a deceased Indigenous person.
The findings of a coroner’s inquest will be released into the first death in a juvenile detention center in Western Australia.
Cleveland Dodd, 16, self-harmed in Unit 18 on October 12, 2023. He had been detained at the facility for nearly three months when a guard found him unresponsive in his cell, which adjoins a maximum-security prison for adults.
Cleveland was reunited with his family before taking his last breath a week after he was hospitalized.
The inquest into Cleveland’s death began in April last year and was the longest-running criminal inquest held in Western Australia, ending in July.
The investigation found Cleveland endured months of isolation, deprivation and neglect under the care of Western Australia’s juvenile justice system.
The coroner was told Cleveland was refused bail on the day he self-harmed and repeatedly told officers he was going to kill himself. He also asked for water about a dozen times but did not get it.
An officer working at the time told the inquest he was never informed that the teenager was threatening harm and did not check on Cleveland regularly throughout the night.
He also claimed that he was instructed not to give Cleveland any more water as he had been given six glasses throughout the day.
It was also revealed that Cleveland was kept in his cell for more than 20 hours most days during his incarceration and occasionally received approximately three hours of training during his time in custody.
Coroner Philip Urquhart gave an early assessment on 8 December, hinting he might recommend the closure of Unit 18.
The unit was hastily established in a wing of Casuarina Prison after a riot at Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Center caused millions of dollars in damage to the facility.
The WA government has begun work on a new $158 million facility to replace Unit 18 to hold youth in custody, but the work is expected to take at least three years to complete.
The facility was promised following Cleveland’s death, but Unit 18 could remain in operation until at least 2028. Staff described the unit as “inhumane” and “war zone-like” where people could not be kept safe.
The inquest was told detainees were held for up to 22 hours a day in disgusting, dirty cells that smelled of faeces, urine and sweat and had no running water.
Cleveland’s mother, Nadene Dodd, said her son was tortured in Unit 18 in the final months of his life and wants the unit to be permanently closed.
He said his family felt anxious and braced themselves for whatever the coroner would say as he relayed his findings.
“More than two years have passed without my son and no amount of findings can bring him home,” she told NewsWire.
“We want truth, not excuses. We want honesty, not bullshit. We want Cleveland’s suffering to be taken into account and for no other child or family to experience what he did.
“We are always in pain.”
Ms Dodd said it was traumatic to relive Cleveland’s final months and hear evidence during the inquest about how many warnings were given before her son died.
“Each step of the cruel process reopened the wounds,” he said.
“But I stood strong because Cleveland deserves the truth. He can’t talk anymore, so I have to talk.”
When Ms Dodd was told Cleveland had harmed himself, she fainted and rushed to the hospital to be with him.
“When I arrived at the hospital and saw him lying there – my son, who was supposed to be safe – it was something no parent should have to experience,” she said.
“I held her hand and prayed for her to breathe again. I told her I loved her and that she wasn’t alone. These moments will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
He hopes the investigation finds the truth that Cleveland should never have been held in these conditions and that he failed repeatedly.
“I hope they name the wrongs, the failures, the cruelty and the negligence. I hope they highlight that Cleveland’s death was preventable,” he said.
“(I) want change. Real change. I want Unit 18, where my son was tortured, to be permanently closed. I don’t want any more children to be punished instead of helping.”
“I want cultural healing, appropriate care, mental health support, and a system that cares. If Cleveland’s death leads to the protection of others, his story will live on.”
“A disappointing outcome would be more language about ‘lessons learned’ with no changes made on the ground. That would break me again.
“If the findings don’t incriminate anyone. If they smooth over what happened. If they let the system go untouched.”
Ms. Dodd said true justice would be served if Cleveland was still alive, but since that couldn’t happen, justice now meant accountability.
“This means shutting down the places that caused harm. This means keeping children safe. This means the state acknowledging that what happened to them was wrong. This is the closest thing to justice left,” he said.
Social justice advocate Gerry Georgatos has shared hundreds of conversations with Mrs. Dodd since Cleveland died and published a book, Cleveland Dodd: Child of the Desert Sunrise.
Mr Georgatos believes the investigation will lead to the immediate closure of Unit 18 and the abolition of criminal youth detention practices in favor of community-based specialist treatment centers based in the Country.
“Cleveland’s death is one of the clearest indictments of a system that harms children rather than helps them. What needs to happen is structural reform, not cosmetic adjustments,” he said.
Mr. Georgatos predicts the coroner will call for the closure of Unit 18 when he delivers his findings on Cleveland’s death.
“But governments often opt for incrementalism,” he said.
“They promise change without transforming or altering the architecture.”
