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Mt Eden prison murder-accused and victim both known to mental health services
The Mt Eden prisoner killed last month and the cellmate who’s 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”.
Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz
The inmate was killed at Auckland’s Mt Eden Corrections Facility on 27 June. 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 man spent three days in Northland Region Corrections Facility before being moved to Mt Eden. Photo:
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 holding down a job as he got older due to 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 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 deputy commissioner Neil Beales. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
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 underway, Doocey was unable to comment further at this time.
Decade of harassment
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 21 May seeking readmission onto electronic monitored bail. A court victim advisor told Lauren the application had been declined and he had been remanded in custody until 30 July.
The man appeared in the Auckland District Court on 21 May seeking readmission onto electronic monitored bail. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi
“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.
Chief victims advisor Ruth Money. Photo: Stephanie Creagh Photography
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.”
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
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