The State Coroner has ruled that the ‘supervision, treatment and care’ given to a Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre detainee who died after setting himself on fire was ‘reasonable and appropriate’.
The inquest, held in October 2018 into the death of Ali Jaffari, evaluated the treatment for potential mental illness while the deceased was in detention.
Jaffari passed away in September 2015 at Fiona Stanley Hospital from injuries sustained from a fire he started in his room at the Yongah Hill facility.
Coroner Barry King said investigations revealed that Jaffari had lit the fire, most likely with a contraband lighter, with the intention of ending his life.
In October 2010, Jaffari arrived at Christmas Island as an illegal maritime arrival with no identity documents.
He said he was an Afghani nation who had lived in Pakistan from the age of 17 but was persecuted due to his Shia faith.
In January 2012, Jaffari, who was identified as a former Pakistani police officer, was granted a protection visa while he was at Curtin Immigration Detention Centre and was released into the community.
Following his release, Jaffari was charged with six courts of indecent acts with a child under 16 and was sentenced to a community order and placed on the sex offender register.
In May 2014, he was arrested and charged with accessing child pornography between July 2012 and May 2014.
Jaffari was released on bail and detained at the Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre before he was sentenced to three months imprisonment and a good behaviour bond.
In December 2014 he was transferred to Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre.
Coroner King said Jaffari’s mental state deteriorated in 2015, with the detainee displaying signs of paranoia and isolation in his room.
“He believed that his own countrymen would attempt to kill him, and he was xenophobic and paranoid of people with dark skin,” he said.
“He was assessed as a high risk of harm to others and passive risk to himself.”
In August 2015 Jaffari cut the front of his neck with a razor and told detention centre staff he wanted to die.
He was treated at Northam Regional Hospital and then transferred to Royal Perth Hospital, where a psychiatric assessment found no evidence of psychotic, depressive or organic illness.
Coroner King said his suicide attempt was considered to be the result of the long detention.
A month later, Jaffari ingested shampoo and re-opened his previous neck wound with a plastic knife.
Psychiatric assessment at Royal Perth Hospital found that he was of sound mind but had self-harmed as a political statement related to being in a detention centre.
Jaffari was discharged back to Yongah Hill for regular psychiatric follow-up.
In September 2015, a fire broke out in Jaffari’s locked room, where he was located lying unconscious in the locked bathroom, covered with a burning blanket.
Detention centre staff administered first aid and Jaffari was taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital where he died from thermal injuries the next day.
Coroner King said Jaffari suffered burns to 60 per cent of his body and had substantial inhalation injuries.
The coroner said he was satisfied the death was not suspicious and the ‘supervision, treatment and care of the deceased at Yongah Hill was reasonable and appropriate in the context of detention.’
For help, call Lifeline 13 11 14 or beyondblue 1300 22 4636.
