Baxter Inquest leaves more questions unanswered

Last year City Hub reported on the case of Veronnica Baxter, an indigenous transsexual who died in custody, and the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death.

In case you missed it here’s the background: Veronnica was arrested in early March in 2009 on drug charges, sent to Silverwater Detention Centre – a goal for men, despite identifying as a woman. Six days later she was found dead, allegedly hanging in her cell. She was 33 years old.

It took over two years (and co-incidentally a change in Government) for there to be an Coroners inquest into her death, finally happening earlier this month.

It lasted three and a half hours. It didn’t answer anything. And for the following week members of the press were barred from reporting about it.

It was the quickest inquest I have seen in over 20 years.” says Ray Jackson, head of the Indigenous Social Justice Association.

The circumstances of Veronnica’s death have been a major cause of controversy with many speculating that she fell victim to racism, or homophobia within the prison system. Others claim it was criminal neglect in the prison system that lead to her death – Veronnica’s cell was left unchecked for 16 hours before she died.

Last year the City Hub further questioned the official version of events, after a leaked email claimed that Veronnicas fingers were broken at her time of death – making her incapable of hanging herself.

Surprisingly, none of this was addressed during the inquiry.

It was a total whitewash, with the backing of the Aboriginal Legal Service… [who] just went along with whatever the corrective services barrister put to Magistrate MacMahon and that’s all there was to it.” said Mr Jackson.

Mr. Jackson, and other campaigners, are critical of the ALS over their handling of the case. They say the group failed to adequately hold the Department of Corrective Services to account over the course of the inquest, leaving major questions unanswered.

Were her fingers broken? Was she in a male gaol against her will? Was she on hormone treatment? Did she know about NSW transgender policy? Was she murdered? These are questions we wanted answers to” says Rachel Evans, CAAH spokesperson and Justice for Veronnica campaigner.

We are not convinced… the inquest was not at all thorough and the evidence presented was very minimal and contradictory”

One stark example of this, is the mixed messages concerning Veronnica’s mental state.

To prevent self-harm in the prison system, inmates are given mental health assessments. Between the period of her arrest, and her death, Veronnica received two, neither deemed her to be at high risk for self-harm. The second assessment took place just hours before her death, however the assessor, Donna Williams, was not present during the inquiry.

Donna Williams, the transgender program [officer] at Silverwater gaol, assessed Veronnica on March the 15th” said Ms. Evans, “We want to know what conversations she had with Veronnica Baxter.”

Those close to her told City Hub that Ms. Baxter did not have a history of self-harm.

I’ve known [Veronnica] since she was an 18 year old drinking at the Courthouse hotel” says Norrie May-Welby, a close friend of Veronnica’s.

I’ve spoken to a lot of people that have known her too, and everyone agrees that she is the last person in the world who would have harmed herself”

During the inquiry it was revealed that on the night leading to her death Veronnica made four calls to prison staff though her cell intercom. However the content of these calls was not brought forth during the inquest, and neither were the prison officers who received them, or prisoners from surrounding cells.

If those four calls were for help why weren’t they answered? And if they weren’t… how can anyone possibly presume she was suicidal if she was making little chatty calls from her cell?” says Norrie.

This is just one of many questions that have remained unanswered by the inquest. Advocates for Ms. Baxter are calling on the new State Government to re-open the Baxter inquest, with the help of Greens MP David Shoebridge.