Prison treatment of Indigenous teenager Cleveland Dodd was cruel, lawyer tells inquest

The 16-year-old was subject to ‘institutional abuse’ by WA justice department staff, coroner in Perth hears

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An Indigenous teenager who fatally self-harmed in detention was subjected to “cruel and inhumane” treatment, a lawyer for his family said after the inquest into his death resumed.

Cleveland Dodd was found unresponsive inside a cell in Unit 18, a youth wing of the high-security Casuarina prison facility for adults in Perth, in the early hours of 12 October 2023.