The man died at Mt Eden Corrections Facility last month. Photo / File
By Sam Sherwood of RNZ
The Mt Eden prisoner killed last month and the cellmate who has been accused of his murder were both known to mental health services, it can be revealed.
The victim’s father says he wants to know how the two men came to share a cell.
“If he hadn’t been double bunked with this person, he would still be with us.
“That was the fault of Corrections. Corrections are supposed to care for people, and they had a duty of care to him, and they failed miserably on that.”
And in a surprising twist, the woman who was harassed by the victim for about a decade agrees. She says he should have been in a secure psychiatric facility “instead of being placed in the same environment as violent offenders”.
The inmate was killed at Auckland’s Mt Eden Corrections Facility on June 27. A 32-year-old man has been charged with murder.
Corrections earlier said the inmate was in a double-bunked cell.
RNZ can now reveal that both men were known to mental health services. The victim had recently been in a mental health unit in Whangārei as part of a compulsory treatment order and was in custody after breaching bail, and the murder-accused had a history with mental health services.
The victim’s father told RNZ his son was jailed in relation to breaching the conditions of a restraining order. He was eventually released and spent two weeks in a mental health facility in Whangārei before he was granted electronically-monitored bail to an apartment.
He said that while at the mental health facility his son’s medication was changed and he was “making good progress”.
However, he breached his conditions again and was arrested, spending three days in Northland Region Corrections Facility before being moved to Mt Eden.
The victim’s father had been told that the alleged killer had a history with mental health services. He wants to know why the two men were placed in the same cell.
“It was a complete failure of the duty of care to my son.”
He said growing up his son was a “good sportsman”, but struggled to hold down a job as he got older because of his mental health.
“But we were hoping that with the new treatment he had, that he might improve there. It was just his mental health which held him back.”
He believed his son’s mental health problems were “treatable”.
Corrections deputy commissioner Neil Beales said in a statement to RNZ that an investigation by the independent Corrections Inspectorate was being carried out. All deaths in custody are referred to the coroner for investigation and determination of cause of death.
“We acknowledge that many people will have questions and want answers about the circumstances that preceded this person’s death. The court proceedings, investigations and the Coronial Inquest will form an important part of this process.
“These proceedings all play a role in providing detailed, expert and impartial views of the circumstances surrounding a person’s death. If there are agreed findings and recommendations in relation to our management of the victim or the accused, then we will absolutely act on these.”
Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell said as the matter was before the court, with reviews under way, it was not appropriate for him to provide any further comment at this time.
“My thoughts are with family and friends, and everyone impacted by this sad event.”
In response to questions from RNZ, a Health New Zealand spokesperson said “we acknowledge this incident”.
“We are unable to consider commenting on a person’s medical treatment without a privacy waiver.”
A spokesperson for Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey said HNZ was best placed to respond from a health perspective.
As the matter was subject to court proceedings and there are reviews under way, Doocey was unable to comment further at this time.
Speaking to RNZ, Lauren (not her real name) says the victim, who she had never met, had been harassing her for about a decade before his death, sending her messages to all her social media accounts a few times a year.
Then in 2021, it “took off”, with the man sending things to her workplace, her family and even colleagues. The messages also became “very sexual”, as well as comments that he would track her down, she said. Lauren never responded to the man.
She said the man was initially issued a criminal harassment notice by police in Whangārei, which he breached.
In September last year, she was granted a restraining order.
However, the man breached the order after contacting a friend of Lauren’s in April.
Lauren reported the breach to police.
The man was eventually arrested on two charges of non-compliance with a restraining order and failure to carry out obligations in regards to a search.
He appeared in the Auckland District Court on May 21 seeking readmission on to electronic monitored bail. A court victim adviser told Lauren the application had been declined and he had been remanded in custody until July 30.
“At this stage, the court continues to wait for receipt of the x2 fitness reports which will determine whether the defendant is fit to stand trial.”
Lauren said she was in “disbelief” when she was told that the man had died.
“It took a minute to kind of just process things, because it’s, you know, it wasn’t the call I was expecting.”
She does not think the man should have been in prison, and says someone like him should not have had a cellmate.
“Anybody who’s under mental health, and who’s unpredictable, or that they’re not sure what they’re capable of, should not be having cellmates… They should be kept on their own. For their own safety, and the safety of others.”
She believed both the health system and justice system had been “grossly incompetent”.
“I can only look at the outcomes and it doesn’t seem to be working.”
She said the harassment she received from the man was “extremely stressful”.
RNZ earlier revealed a case involving a man who has twice been found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity for two separate killings.
After that article, chief victims advisor Ruth Money called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into forensic mental health facilities.
Last month, a suppression order was lifted allowing media to report another mental health patient, Elliot Cameron, had killed two people 50 years apart.
Following the revelations, Money said she stood by her recommendation.
“The public deserves an inquiry that can give actionable expert recommendations, as opposed to multiple coroners’ inquests and recommendations that do not have the same binding influence. The patients themselves, and the public will be best served by an independent inquiry, not another internal review that changes nothing.”
– RNZ