By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
Crammed Dandenong court cells highlight prisoner crisis…
LAWYERS are speaking out against a “crisis in the prison system” as their clients languished in holding cells awaiting trial at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court last week.
A remand prisoner, who had been in custody for more than two weeks, was unable to apply for bail after Corrections Victoria failed to transport him and several prisoners from remand to Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
The prisoner, Craig Ivor Bowen, will not be able to apply for bail until his next scheduled hearing on 15 November.
Magistrate Gerard Bryant branded the situation as “lamentable” after being told Bowen and three other prisoners could not be presented to court from Melbourne Custody Centre that day.
“It’s a lamentable situation that the system is under so much strain that he is not being brought to court for a bail application.
“(Being a situation) where he may not be required to be in (remand) any more is a cause of concern.”
Mr Bryant awarded Bowen’s defence barrister Alan Hands $1000 in costs for the day against Corrections Victoria for the aborted hearing.
Bowen had been scheduled to appear at court on Monday to apply for bail over charges of indecent exposure in a Fountain Gate department store’s female clothing section.
Mr Hands indicated to the court that Bowen, in seeking bail, would reverse his “ill-considered” guilty pleas lodged by a “Legal Aid Victoria lawyer” at a 14 October hearing.
At the time, magistrate Pauline Spencer ordered Bowen to be held in custody for eight weeks while undertaking a full psychiatric assessment prior to sentencing on 11 December.
Mr Hands told the Journal he didn’t know when Bowen would be transferred from police cells into Melbourne Remand Centre.
“It’s dreadful. I rang Corrections (on Tuesday) and they said there’s a crisis within the prison system.
“He’s been in police cells for more than 14 days, exceeding Corrections Victoria guidelines.
“They said they can’t get him out of police cells into Melbourne Remand Centre straightaway. There’s not enough beds.”
That Monday, prisoners remanded in custody over the weekend didn’t arrive in court until late in the afternoon, while as many as 13 prisoners filled the adjacent holding cells.
The Monday before, the court was struggling to clear its custodial prisoners; there were still nine prisoners in the cells by mid-afternoon.
Victoria Legal Aid has also sought costs for court delays from Corrections Victoria.
Westernport region managing lawyer Elissa Scott said vulnerable clients such as young people in custody for the first time and people with a mental illness were at increasing risk in overcrowded cells.
Criminal Bar Association chairman Remy van de Wiel QC said about 400 people had failed to appear in magistrates’ court in Victoria during the past month due to crowded holding cells.
“They aren’t all dangerous criminals. They’re charged with an offence and presumed innocent before proven guilty. They’re entitled to their human rights.”
Attorney-General Robert Clark said prisoner numbers were increasing because authorities were “getting tougher” on refusing and cancelling parole.
“This is exactly what the community wants and is entitled to expect. “Under a Coalition government, community safety is the paramount consideration and parole is a privilege, not a right.”
He said more than 650 prison beds had opened since the Coalition came to office, with more than 2000 additional places “in the pipeline”.
Prisoner transport services and temporary accommodation had also been added to prisons to help ease pressure on police cells.
Who do you think is to blame for the crisis? Email journal@starnewsgroup.com.au or comment on the Dandenong Journal Facebook page.
