An inquest is now considering how Department of Corrections staff handled risk assessments, management, wellbeing and treatment processes in the lead-up to his death.
The actions of Corrections staff on the day he died will be of specific interest to the coroner during this week’s hearing in the Invercargill District Court.
Coroner Amelia Steel said the inquiry would examine the circumstances in which Strange died and look for opportunities to reduce the chances of others dying in similar circumstances.
The inquiry was not about blame but about accountability, Coroner Steel said.
Prisoners in custody with Strange at the time of his death gave statements, as did Corrections staff from the prison.
In a statement read to the court, Strange’s former partner said he had been using methamphetamine before he was taken into custody, about four months prior to his death.
They would speak regularly over the phone and she became increasingly concerned about his wellbeing in prison after she heard he had attempted suicide.
The woman said she rang the prison and told a staffer Strange needed to be put on watch.
Strange, who was on remand, had told her he was facing an eight-year jail sentence, she said.
She struggled with the relationship and decided to end it, but said she remained on good terms with Strange.
She said Strange rang her twice on the day he died, angry and crying, saying he had been put on a management plan at the prison.
Told partner he loved her
He rang a second time and told her he loved her, she said.
Strange’s cousin was in the same unit at the prison and said Strange had attempted suicide in June 2022.
He was in a neighbouring cell and alerted prison officers.
Al Williams is an Open Justice reporter for the New Zealand Herald, based in Christchurch. He has worked in daily and community titles in New Zealand and overseas for the last 16 years. Most recently he was editor of the Hauraki-Coromandel Post, based in Whangamatā. He was previously deputy editor of the Cook Islands News.
