New South Wales Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame has released findings into the 2022 death in custody of Gregory Merriman, a 58-year-old Yuin man, at the Metropolitan Reception and Remand Centre (MRRC) in Sydney. Grahame stated that Merriman was found unresponsive in his cell 30 minutes after being exposed to CS spray (tear gas) deployed by prison officers to contain a fight in a common area. The coroner noted that Merriman was not involved in the altercation and appeared on CCTV footage to have made verbal attempts to calm others.

An autopsy revealed Merriman died from an acute myocardial infarction caused by ischemic heart disease. In her 60-page findings, Grahame said his heart disease was asymptomatic but opportunities to improve his care, such as starting statins to control slightly raised cholesterol, had been missed. She raised concerns that changes to the preventative health screenings policy made since his death may mean more cases could slip through the cracks, emphasizing that the health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians persists and the importance of culturally safe care for First Nations inmates cannot be overstated.

Grahame expressed being "very troubled by the new time frame" for health screenings. She highlighted that the provision of adequate health screening is one of the few possible positive outcomes for incarcerated individuals, noting that many Aboriginal inmates serve short sentences. If preventative health screenings (PHS) are scheduled towards the end of a 12-month window, many may be released before it occurs, leading her to conclude that the new policy constitutes a decrease in service level rather than a clear improvement.

However, Grahame declined to make recommendations directed at Justice Health, instead recommending that the commissioner of custodial services update policies around CS spray use to improve first aid responses for exposed prisoners. She also addressed Merriman's family, stating that the over-incarceration of First Nations people is the root cause of persistently high deaths in custody, a systemic issue grounded in the ongoing effects of colonization. Grahame pointed to recent statistics showing a record number of Indigenous deaths in custody in NSW, with disproportionate increases in Aboriginal remand populations over the past five years.

Source: www.theguardian.com