Cleveland Dodd inquest confirmed for April as coroner lifts ban on naming tragic teen in Unit 18 probe

A coroner’s inquest into the death of Cleveland Dodd — who took his own life while in custody in the infamous Unit 18 — will begin in the first week of April. And that fact can now be reported, after the state coroner lifted a suppression order which had temporarily prevented the tragic teenager’s name being used in connection with the hearing. Two blocks of hearing dates have been set aside to hold the public inquest, which will probe in detail the circumstances of the death of the 16 year-old in October last year. He was the first child to die in custody in more than a decade in Australia — and the first ever in a WA prison. Teenager John Pat died in a police lock up cell in 1983. Cleveland’s mother Nadene Dodd was told last December that the highly-anticipated probe had been set down to begin on April 3. Those dates have now been confirmed by the state coroner. And following submissions from lawyers representing the family, a spokesperson for the Coroner’s court said on Thursday he will be able to be identified throughout those hearings. “While there are legislative protections preventing the identification of deceased children, the presiding Coroner has determined that given the particular circumstances of this case, the non-publication direction in respect to the name of Child DC can be lifted,” the statement said. “The Court will now refer to him by his full name, Cleveland Keith Dodd.” The public hearings will probe further the findings already revealed by other inquiries – including interim findings from a Department of Justice probe which detailed a series of shocking failures. They included the fact a record of welfare checks on Cleveland the night he self-harmed appeared to have been fabricated, and that a broken vent used by the 16-year-old as a ligature point had gone unrepaired for nearly a month. As first revealed by The West Australian, a senior youth custodial officer on duty that night is also believed to have been sleeping in their office at the time of the tragedy, delaying guards’ access to Cleveland’s cell to provide first aid. Last year, Ms Dodd said she hoped the inquest — which can compel witnesses to provide public testimony — would provide a fuller picture of how and why Cleveland came to end his life. “I want people to be held to account,” she said. “The things that have come out so far are unbelievable. I hear them, but I can’t believe them.” Ms Dodd added she was thankful for the rapid turnaround of the inquest. It will sit from April 3 to 12, and then reconvene again on July 22 for another three weeks. The Cook Government has announced plans to shut Unit 18 — which sits within the maximum-security adult Casuarina Prison — and replace it with a “high security” but “therapeutic” youth detention centre to be constructed alongside Banksia Hill. But just three weeks ago, during the heights of Perth’s summer heatwave, it was confirmed teenagers were still housed there, in cells without air conditioning.