A warning this story contains distressing content. It discusses self-harm and includes the image of an Indigenous person who has died. The former president of the West Australian children's court has told an inquest into the death in custody of an aboriginal teenager the state's notorious unit 18 detention facility should be closed "immediately".
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00:00Yes, so this morning we've been hearing evidence from retired judge and former president of
00:06the WA Children's Court, Dennis Reynolds.
00:09He said that in his view, Cleveland Dodd's death was preventable, predictable and predicted.
00:16The 16-year-old died after he self-harmed in his cell inside Unit 18, which is a youth
00:23wing inside the maximum security adult men's prison, Casuarina.
00:28It was set up two years ago, it was supposed to be a temporary facility.
00:32The government said to house a difficult cohort of youth, but two years on it's still operational.
00:39Now Mr Reynolds has told the inquest that he'd been warning about the potential death,
00:45the potential for a death in youth detention since before Unit 18 was set up.
00:50Back in early 2022, he was talking to senior bureaucrats about his concerns.
00:56He said those concerns fell on deaf ears.
00:59Mr Reynolds also lamented what he described as government spin around youth detention
01:05in WA and said the system needs a regime overhaul.