Man died in Canberra's jail after being transferred out of mental health unit due to lack of beds, court hears
A 21-year-old man who died in Canberra's jail was transferred from the mental health unit because it ran out of beds, the ACT Coroners Court has heard.
The man was found dead in the health unit at the Alexander Maconochie Centre in July 2013.
Counsel assisting the coroner Ken Archer has given details of the incident during a preliminary hearing.
He said the man who suffered paranoid schizophrenia had been on remand at the time, and was being treated in the jail's mental health unit.
But he told the court the man had been moved to the nearby health unit when the mental health unit's acute section ran out of space.
Mr Archer told the court the man had asked for help and although he was assessed there was no decision to take him back to the mental health unit.
He had been in a room with another inmate but was left alone when that man's condition deteriorated and he was moved.
Mr Archer said he would not be focussing on the actions of individuals.
He told the court the inquiry would look at management of cases like this and "how inmates as unwell as (he) was failed to be cared for".
"There will be examination of the use of the health units particularly as a step down facility," he said.
He said there would also be consideration of whether the physical surroundings may have contributed, including the architecture of the ward, and the circumstances by which the man found himself there.
The inquest will be held later this year.
