Arabic version: خبراء يحذرون من مخاطر الزنازين الآمنة بعد وفيات في السجون
According to ABC News, experts have raised concerns about monitored isolation or “safe cells” after several New South Wales prisoners died following periods in such cells. The cells are used to reduce suicide or self-harm risks by removing or minimising hanging points and placing inmates under close observation.
Daniel Turnbull, 35, died at Bathurst Correctional Centre in October 2022 after spending more than 50 hours in a camera cell while awaiting psychiatric review. He lived with schizophrenia and had been placed there after reporting derogatory voices and paranoia. On his final day, he drank 237 cups of water, including about 50 cups in half an hour, before collapsing.
An autopsy found excess water caused hyponatraemia, in which sodium levels fall and the brain swells. Deputy State Coroner Erin Kennedy found the condition could have been prevented through close monitoring, but said staff would have needed to know that excessive water intake could be dangerous. Guards told the coroner they had no mental health training and did not know excessive water drinking could be fatal.
Forensic psychiatrist Danny O’Sullivan said psychosis without medical attention, combined with being locked in a cell with few distractions, could contribute to polydipsia. ABC News reported that Turnbull was one of three prisoners with schizophrenia to die from polydipsia in less than two years, including Trevor Samuel at Long Bay’s prison hospital in March 2021 and Tammy Shipley at Silverwater women’s prison in December 2022.
Forensic psychiatrists Kerri Eagle and Olav Nielssen said isolation and sensory deprivation can worsen risks for people with serious mental illness. Dr Eagle said safe cells could be “counter therapeutic, disempowering and distressing” and argued that health care for at-risk inmates should be managed by health professionals rather than Corrective Services. Corrective Services said it follows legislative and regulatory frameworks and works with Justice Health through multidisciplinary teams.
