The mother of a "devastated" detainee who discovered his indigenous cellmate dead at the Alexander Maconochie Centre holds fears for her son's mental health after a string of recent deaths in the tight-knit Aboriginal community, a court has heard.
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Jermaine Goolagong on Wednesday asked to be released from jail to grieve with his family, seek counselling and attend the funeral of Steven Freeman, 25, who died in custody last month.
Lawyers for Goolagong, who has several charges relating to alleged protection order breaches and traffic offences currently before court, made an application for bail when he faced the ACT Magistrates Court.
Aboriginal Legal Service defence lawyer Dean Rutherford argued there were special or exceptional circumstances, linked to Mr Freeman's death, that warranted the granting of bail.
Goolagong's mother spoke of her son's shock at finding Mr Freeman in their shared cell at the prison as she gave evidence in a courtroom packed with supporters, including Mr Freeman's mother Narelle King.
"He was Steve Freeman's – god bless him – his friend, his brother, his cousin, all in one. They were very close."
She told the court she had communicated with Goolagong about the death of "his mate" and had growing concerns about her son's mental health.
"He's devastated. He wanted me to tell Steven Freeman's mum Narelle he was so sorry he couldn't help him, he let him down.
"He kept saying he was sorry, he was so sorry. He tried to wake him up and he couldn't."
Goolagong's mother told the court her son now spoke about "staying strong for Steven" and had not reached out for help inside the jail because he was worried he would be separated from other inmates.
She said six young men in the region's close Aboriginal community had died by suicide recently, with one taking his life the day after Mr Freeman's death.
That prompted Magistrate Beth Campbell to query how Mr Freeman had died, saying it was difficult for her to make a decision on the defence's application if she was not privy to his cause of death.
But Mr Rutherford said all circumstances surrounding Mr Freeman's death and its cause remained under investigation.
He argued Goolagong could adhere to strict bail conditions that would see him stay with his mother and attend culturally appropriate counselling services at Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service.
Alternatively, he asked the court to consider a shorter grant of bail to allow Goolagong to simply attend the funeral on Friday, noting he had previously been released from custody for several days to go to a funeral.
Mr Rutherford said while Corrective Services would likely take Goolagong and another inmate to the funeral, he would prefer Goolagong to be bailed given the jail's superintendent had expressed some doubts about that arrangement.
"These are somewhat delicate issues," he said. "Given what has happened there were some concerns from Corrective Services about attending the funeral."
Prosecutors opposed the bail application, arguing Goolagong's extensive criminal history showed scant regard for the law and court orders.
Ms Campbell denied Goolagong bail on grounds he was likely to reoffend given his "appalling" criminal record, noting support from his family and community in the past had not been enough to stop him committing crimes.
But she instructed Mr Rutherford to work out a potential arrangement with the prosecution and jail for Goolagong and the second detainee to be released administratively to attend the funeral before the matter returned to court on Thursday.
Goolagong's supporters urged him to "stay strong" as he was led from the courtroom.
The ACT government has launched an urgent, independent inquiry to probe Mr Freeman's treatment at the AMC, after assurances he would be kept safe following a savage bashing last year.
The ACT's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body this week said it would keep a "close watch" on that inquiry and called for more to be done support Aboriginal people in custody.
