Tasmania's chief justice has described inhumane conditions in a jail unit where a prisoner was locked in his cell for four days straight and unable to access help for his mental health.
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Trent Mervyn Leonard, 24, was serving time at Risdon Prison for dangerous driving when he set his mattress on fire in October 2020, causing $10,000 in damage.
Leonard had been in the jail's solitary confinement Tamar Unit for more than two months during a "challenging period" of multiple COVID-19-associated lockdowns.
In sentencing remarks published this week, Justice Alan Blow said Leonard had not been allowed out of his cell for four days because of lockdowns and in the days before the fire started hearing voices.
"He had been trying to get help because of his mental state, without success," Justice Blow said.
He said it was clear Leonard's mental state deteriorated significantly in the weeks before the fire, following the death of his uncle.
His request to move to the unit so he could grieve in private was denied. He then struck a prison officer, prompting a transfer.
Prisoners in the unit are subject to substantial restrictions on family visits and communication, and are generally allowed out of their cells for one hour a day.
Leonard had not communicated with his family for more than two months.
An experienced forensic psychiatrist said there was evidence Leonard may have suffered a reactive psychosis caused by his depressed mood, restrictions and lack of stimuli within his cell.
"It should come as no surprise that the incarceration of prisoners in such conditions for months on end might lead to one or more of them experiencing a significant deterioration in mental health, and misbehaving as a result," Justice Blow said.
Leonard self-harmed two weeks before the fire, with subsequent requests for access to therapeutic services denied "apparently because of problems" encountered during COVID-19.
Justice Blow referenced the custodial inspector's annual report for the year ending June 30, 2021.
The inspector wrote he was increasingly concerned conditions in the Tamar Unit had reverted to an inhumane environment with prisoners held under unduly restrictive conditions.
Leonard, who pleaded guilty to unlawfully setting fire to property, was sentenced to one months' jail, to be served concurrently with another sentence.
Justice Blow said there were exceptional circumstances in Leonard's case, with "his deteriorating mental health, the unavailability of the treatment that he was seeking for it, the inhumane conditions in the Tamar Unit, and in particular the COVID-related lockdowns day after day".
Tasmania's department of justice has been contacted for comment.
Australian Associated Press
