Julianne Francis Williams has launched court action against the ACT government, accusing it of torturous, cruel and degrading treatment while she was locked up in the Alexander Maconochie Centre.

The 39-year-old was called to give evidence in the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday.

After giving evidence, Ms Williams said through tears: "I should've just kept my mouth shut".

She had been on the stand for most of the day while being cross-examined by counsel for the ACT government, Houda Younan SC.

The court heard the previous day that Ms Williams had "begged for mercy" when correctional officers entered her cell and forcibly tried to strip search her in January 2021.

Ms Williams' barrister, Mark Dennis SC, said officers had a Hoffman knife on them at the time of the incident.

Mr Dennis also claimed two male officers had been present, close to cells containing male prisoners.

Ms Williams, who has a pacemaker, found it hard to breathe and yelled "I've got f---ing pains in my chest", her barrister told the court.

Footage of the incident was played on Monday. It showed officers entering the cell and struggling with Ms Williams while she cries out "just let me go".

Eventually, Ms Williams consents to the search and is taken to a bathroom with two female officers.

She described the incident to the court on Tuesday, saying officers "just came in and jumped on me".

"They entered the room in quick force and landed on top of me with shields while I was laying on the bed doing nothing. I wasn't aggressive or anything of the sort," she claimed.

Ms Williams told the court when she eventually agreed to a strip search, she was told to remove all her clothes at once "because I had blood all over me".

"It was everywhere," she said.

Ms Williams told the court she was "so scared" of having her clothes cut off in front of male officers.

Speaking of her time in Canberra's jail in general, Ms Williams said inmates were treated "like cattle".

"When you're in custody as a detainee, you don't have any power," she said.

"It is almost as if officers have a core belief ... when those guys put that uniform on, the core belief comes with it. They are officers and we are detainees and we mean nothing."

READ ALSO:

The ACT government barrister put to Ms Williams that she had been threatening to rip out her pacemaker after an application to attend her grandmother's funeral was denied. Ms Williams denied this.

Ms Younan previously argued the strip search was lawful and had been conducted with the suspicion Ms Williams had hidden a razor on her person which could be used for self-harm.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: