The New South Wales (Australia) state justice system held a hearing on Monday, September 16, 2024 to clarify the circumstances in which a 47-year-old mother died in a Sydney (Australia) prison in December 2022. Tammy Shipley had been incarcerated after being arrested for a robbery in a hypermarket, says The Sydney Morning Herald .
A sick woman
She had stolen goods worth 23.10 Australian dollars, or about €14. A few hours earlier, she had stolen several hundred Australian dollars worth of goods from a department store located in the same shopping centre. The Australian woman was also charged with trespassing and breaching her bail conditions.
“I’m not saying my daughter didn’t do anything wrong. She didn’t, she should have been punished.commented Vicki, Tammy Shipley’s mother, quoted by our colleagues. But I don’t think death was the punishment she deserved.”
Tammy Shipley had suffered from mental health issues since she was a teenager, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and drug addiction. A specialist who testified at the hearing explained that the deceased woman “was not a violent person” and that almost all of his run-ins with the law were for drug possession and traffic offences.
A series of errors
Three of the deceased’s five children attended the court hearing on Monday, September 16, while a fourth followed online. They learned that their mother’s detention may in fact have been an administrative error. The 40-year-old died in her cell after ingesting some 20 liters of water in the midst of a dementia crisis. She collapsed to the ground and convulsed, without anyone noticing, while she was supposed to be under surveillance.
The mother was subsequently tried and the court, unaware that she had died, convicted her, noting her absence.
