A detainee has been freed to attend the funeral of his Indigenous cellmate Steven Freeman, who died in custody, amid concerns the presence of Corrective Services officers at the service could create a "volatile situation".
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Jermaine Goolagong, 22, was granted permission to be briefly released from Canberra's jail to allow him to grieve with his family and go to his friend's funeral and burial on Friday.
Mr Freeman, 25, died in the Alexander Maconochie Centre two weeks ago, despite assurances he would be kept safe following a vicious bashing that rendered him close to death last year.
The circumstances surrounding Mr Freeman's death in custody and its cause remain under investigation and are set to be the subject of a three-month independent inquiry.
Lawyers for Goolagong, who had a string of charges relating to alleged protection order breaches and traffic offences before court, applied for his release on bail in the ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
The court heard Goolagong had been devastated by Mr Freeman's death and his mother worried he was not seeking help for grief and mental health concerns inside the jail.
Magistrate Beth Campbell denied bail but indicated she would consider an application for a shorter release to allow Goolagong to go to the funeral.
The matter returned to court on Thursday when Aboriginal Legal Service lawyer Dean Rutherford said Corrective Services had arranged for plain clothes officers to escort Goolagong and another inmate, Martin Carl Phillips, 31, to the service and burial.
Ms Campbell expressed some concerns over that arrangement and said the presence of the corrections officers at the funeral could create a "volatile situation" that should be avoided if possible.
"It is an anxiety for me that [Goolagong] would have to be accompanied by Corrective Services officers.
"There is some potential for some volatility at a time of heightened emotion."
Ms Campbell noted Goolagong had found Mr Freeman's body and that "a question mark" remained over the circumstances of Mr Freeman's death and the fact he was returned to the jail despite his family's concerns.
"If this can be done with Corrective Services having a limited very presence I think that would be best," Ms Campbell said.
She ordered Goolagong to be released into his mother's custody temporarily on grounds there were special or exceptional circumstances, linked to Mr Freeman's death, that warranted the granting of bail solely to attend the funeral.
"The circumstances of this matter are just so unusual that I doubt they would ever arise again," she said.
Goolagong was bailed on a $500 surety and strict conditions, including that he spend Friday night at his family home and return to the AMC on Saturday morning.
Phillips also appeared in court where Ms Campbell denied his lawyers' application for a bail review so he could attend Mr Freeman's funeral.
Ms Campbell accepted there would likely be some hostility towards Corrective Services officers who would have to accompany Phillips, but said the bail review would not be appropriate under law and his circumstances were different to Goolagong's.
The pair's bail applications were heard as several charges against Mr Freeman came before the Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Prosecutors handed up a statement of life extinct for Mr Freeman and applied for several charges, including traffic offences and theft, to be abated.
Magistrate Robert Cook found the charges were subsequently of no legal effect and ordered the file closed.
Mr Freeman was facing trial in the ACT Supreme Court on allegations including arson and aggravated burglary later this month.
Those charges have also been abated and trial dates vacated by the higher court.
