Children were left calling for help in their locked cells during a riot at the troubled Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in Darwin, it's alleged.
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It's claimed that despite nearby buildings being on fire staff had left the facility, leaving young people locked inside accommodation blocks.
Northern Territory Children's Commissioner and Larrakia woman Shahleena Musk confirmed she was inquiring with Territory Families about children who were left locked in their cells during a riot on April 3 where boys wielding weapons banged on cell doors and smoke could be smelt from nearby structure fires.
She said her office was "undertaking preliminary inquiries" into several allegations.
"The Office of the Children's Commission has visited the (centre) since the incident ... and noted a number of concerns," she said.
"We are working closely with Territory Families to gather more information including sharing our concerns regarding the conditions and treatment of young people."
A staff member at Don Dale Youth Detention Centre, who could not be named for legal reasons, told AAP one young girl who was left locked in her cell during the incident was terrified and distressed.
It was the first time in nearly three years that NT Police's elite Territory Response Group were called to the detention centre after 16 teenagers took control of the defunct adult prison.
The staff member at Don Dale said during the 17-hour-riot teenage detainees allegedly stuffed paper towels into toasters and set fire to a number of buildings including the administration and education blocks.
The young people also left messages throughout the facility that read "Don Dale sucks".
They then climbed on top of the facility and wrote SOS on the building's roof.
Minister for Territory Families Ngaree Ah Kit told media no young people were injured during the incident, but AAP understand at least one teenage girl injured her wrist jumping off the roof.
Ms Ah Kit said as police arrived a number of young people made their way onto the roof "which is absolutely dangerous".
"It was never designed for children...it was an adult prison," she said.
Territory Families chief executive Emma White confirmed the number of young people incarcerated at the facility had almost doubled ahead of the riot, rising to 44.
AAP also understands that following the incident several children were placed "at risk" due to ongoing self-harm concerns.
Furthermore, one child was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital following a serious-self harm incident.
A spokesperson for Ms Ah Kit's office confirmed the child was taken to hospital but said the department would not comment on individual cases.
Danila Dilba, the Aboriginal health service that provides primary health care to young people in Don Dale told AAP they had not been able to access the clinic for several days after the facility was secured.
Danila Dilba chief executive Rob McPhee said medical staff had "limited access to young people through their cells".
"The children in Don Dale are some of our most vulnerable. The incident highlights the gross inadequacy of the current facility, the critical need for the new facility to be brought online and the importance of preventing and diverting young people away from the justice system and detention."
North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) principal lawyer Jared Sharpe said his lawyers following the riots were refused access to their clients for over a week.
"(Territory Families) were not facilitating face-to-face visits of any kind...including family," he said.
Mr Sharpe said in recent days some NAAJA lawyers visited young people inside the facility.
"One young person who was involved in the incident was kept locked down for three full days ... our lawyer was unable to speak to him privately and said he could hear kids yelling and screaming," Mr Sharpe said.
"It is a disturbing."
Last week children waiting in the back cells of Darwin's Youth Court could be heard again screaming and kicking the walls of the cells.
Inside the courtroom the department's prosecutor Lajita Allan-Agnew told Judge MacDonald that current conditions inside the facility were "very restrictive and very harsh".
Judge Greg MacDonald then turned to a young person and said, "I would like to send you to Don Dale, but I can't, it's crap."
Territory Families declined to answer if any children had been left inside the cells while it was evacuated, and how many hours children were now been left in their cells each day.
Instead, the department's acting senior director of communications Amy Sloan said operations had returned to normal.
"Given the damage to the recreation and education blocks, and to ensure the safety of all people within the detention centre while the repairs are being carried out, some adjustments to programs and activities have been made," she said.
"We have debriefed all young people in the centre and provided them with the support they require."
The department declined to answer how often young people had access to psychologists and counsellors since the riot.
Australian Associated Press
