The mother of a young Aboriginal man who died in a West Australian prison had raised grave fears about his wellbeing two weeks earlier – but help came too late.
Ricky Lee Jones-Cound, 22, died at the maximum-security Hakea Prison after he was found unresponsive in his cell on Friday. His death is not being treated as suspicious.
Grieving mother Laura Cound revealed she had contacted the Aboriginal Visitors Scheme, which is run by the Department of Justice and provides counselling for inmates, on March 12.
NCA NewsWire has also seen correspondence between Ms Cound xjmtzywand advocate Megan Krakouer, who referred her to the scheme.
In that correspondence, Ms Cound said she believed her son was being “mistreated”.
“I need some(one) to talk to him, please. I have concerns for his welfare,” she wrote.
Ms Cound, who has given NCA NewsWire permission for her son’s name and photo to be used, told reporters on Tuesday that her son could have been saved.
“No one listened to me. No one heard me cry out for help … I’ve been begging for help,” she wept.
Ms Cound said her heart had been ripped out.
Mr Jones-Cound had been sentenced in December last year to 3½ years in prison for aggravated burglary.
He was transferred from Acacia Prison following riots last month and was placed in solitary confinement.
Ms Krakouer said he should have been placed in the crisis care unit.
Advocate Gerry Georgatos said people like Mr Jones-Cound needed “substantive nurture” rather than being “corralled in dungeons and despair”.
“After three tragic suicides at Acacia over a relative brief period, in October 2020 I secured nine months of restorative work in Acacia – with a focus on reducing self-harms,” he said.
“I led a small team … we engaged with 1200 of the 1500 prisoner population, substantively with 400, and post-release supported 70 souls.
“We supported some to education, several to university and many to employment.”
Their work wrapped up in June last year but both he and Ms Krakouer believe it should be reinstated.
“The bottom line and profit got in the way of the restorative, the rehabilitative, got in the way of hope and in the way of saving lives,” Mr Georgatos said.
“This abomination has directly led, in my view, to the loss of this youth’s life, to much of the tumult evident at Acacia and other prisons since the most successful project in reducing self-harms was done away with because of penny-pinching.”
Premier Mark McGowan on Monday described Mr Jones-Cound’s death as “very sad” but said the government had support measures in prisons, including counselling.
“You’re dealing with people who are incarcerated, who sometimes have mental health issues, sometimes quite rebellious in their nature,” Mr McGowan said.
“We manage them as best we can to prevent them (deaths) from occurring, but occasionally they do.”
Ms Krakouer claimed the government was “responsible for the ongoing chaos” in the prison system.
“The Premier has failed – failed our people time and time again, and that’s a reality,” she said.
LIFELINE FACT BOX
