Former WA justice boss concedes kids subject to ‘institutional abuse’ under his watch, Cleveland Dodds inquest hears

A tearful Adam Tomison told the court ‘I wanted to do a good job’ but agreed it was cruel and inhumane that kids had been locked up for up to 23 hours a day

A former justice department boss says youth detainees under his watch were subject to abuse.

The revelation came during an inquest into the first West Australian custodial juvenile death.

In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org