Cleveland Dodd inquest: CCTV footage of tragic night in Unit 18 to be shown to lawyers, family in closed court

CCTV footage from the notorious Unit 18 juvenile detention facility on the night Cleveland Dodd fatally self-harmed will be shown to his family, but only after the lawyers involved in his inquest have first seen it. The highly-anticipated investigation will begin on Wednesday and run until April 12, with the schedule showing there will be no witnesses on day one. Instead, the inquest will begin with counsel and instructing solicitors having a closed court private viewing of the footage after coroner Phil Urquhart’s opening remarks. On Thursday, an authorised list of Cleveland’s family members will have a private screening, again behind closed doors. Unit 18 staff members will then be grilled, with three youth custodial officers each set down for a full day of questioning. A nurse and a manager also each have a full day set aside for their testimony. On Tuesday, the day before the inquest begins, Cleveland’s grieving family will lead a march through Perth to the Department of Justice head office at the David Malcolm Justice Centre on Barrack Street. Prison reform advocate Gerry Georgatos said about 70 relatives who had travelled from the regions to Perth would be front and centre at the rally, which starts at 12pm in Forrest Place. Speakers will include Cleveland’s mother Nadene Dodd, grandmother Glenda Mippy, aunt Bonnie Mippy, lawyer Dana Levitt - who is acting for the family at the inquest - and National Suicide Prevention and Trauma Recovery Project director Megan Krakouer. Mr Georgatos said the family and supporters would be dignified in their anger, referring back to the silent protest held outside Meekatharra Police Station on the day of Cleveland’s funeral. The five-hour protest, involving more than 150 people, came after authorities withdrew permission for his incarcerated father Wayne Gentle to attend. The proceedings were delayed until the decision was reversed. Gentle, whose sentence ends in June, applied for early release on compassionate grounds in October after his son fatally self-harmed - but has not had a response. Mr Georgatos said he was advocating for Gentle to be allowed to attend the inquest, which is scheduled to reconvene in July after its April run. The family was bracing for traumatic testimony and said they were already deeply disturbed by the department incorrectly telling Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia - as Cleveland was on life support in hospital - that YCOs had responded to the emergency unfolding in his cell within minutes. Interim conclusions from a department inquiry released in November revealed that Cleveland had used his in-cell intercom to tell officers he was taking his own life almost 20 minutes before he was found unresponsive. The family was also shocked that a record of welfare checks on the teen that night appeared to have been fabricated. “That blew all trust between the department and the family,” Mr Georgatos told The West Australian. “If they were fabricating things like that, who would believe anything? And they don’t. “It’s compounding trauma.” The Prisoners Review Board of WA has been asked for comment on Gentle’s request. Lifeline 13 11 14