Last week, Perth District Court judge Linda Black told one man who had pleaded guilty to attempting to help import cocaine into the country that his sentence would be “significantly reduced” because he had been housed at Hakea, which she described as “intolerable” and “far below the standard”.
Perth District Court judge Linda Black.Credit: 9 News Perth
He got a five-year sentence. Some of his co-offenders were given 10 and 11 years.
Black pointed to the Hakea Safety Custody Taskforce, established in August 2024, “to address serious concerns about prisoner safety”.
“The conclusion in part was without urgent system reform, including potentially unconventional solutions, the situation at Hakea remains dangerously unstable,” she said.
“That is not my finding, that is the finding of the inspector.”
Jackson Appleby spent time locked up in Hakea Prison.
Black made the unusual departure from her sentencing remarks to address conditions at Hakea that she said were largely driven by staffing shortages.
“There’s severe overcrowding in the cells with population regularly exceeding official capacity,” she said.
“This has led to up to 80 men sleeping on mattresses on cell floors near the toilets, creating cramped, unhygienic and undignified conditions, and as this court has experienced, injuries to prisoners who are stepped on, kicked or otherwise hurt during the time that they’re on the floor.
“The capacity to see lawyers, family and friends has been close to non-existent.”
Responding to Black’s comments, Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia said: “Judges are independent and make their own decisions, but we make no apologies for locking up drug traffickers.”
David, who asked for his real name not to be used, told this masthead he spent two months in Hakea at the end of 2024 and early 2025.
“Because it was Christmas and there were so many lockdowns I couldn’t get through to any lawyers, I couldn’t get any representation at all,” he said.
David had breached a restraining order by sending an ex partner messages when he shouldn’t have, which he pleaded guilty to, and ended up with a fine. He still spent two months locked up for almost 24 hours a day, with his access to legal support limited.
New figures show the prisoner population at Hakea rose by 327 between 2021 and 2025.
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In the same period, staffing allocation has reduced from 673.9 to 620.9 – a reduction of 53 staff.
“The disgraceful lack of resourcing and understaffing in Hakea Prison is seeing extended lockdowns, an increased risk to staff safety, and fewer opportunities for rehabilitation,” opposition corrective services spokesman Adam Hort said.
“The whole point of prison is to rehabilitate offenders so that when they eventually return to the community – which almost all do – they are less of a threat than when they went in.
“Anything that threatens rehabilitation is a direct threat to community safety.
“The minister thinks he can treat Western Australians like idiots with his tough rhetoric, but the reality is his failures in Corrective Services are leading to shorter sentences for serious drug offenders.
“That means drug dealers are being put back on our streets quicker – making WA less safe and creating more victims.”
Just two months ago, another damning report by the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services said conditions at Hakea had “slightly improved but remained entirely unacceptable”.
“The prison system is operating beyond its capacity, placing immense strain on staff, infrastructure, and prisoner welfare,” Inspector Eamon Ryan said.
“These pressures are undermining the effectiveness of prison operations and having a significant toll on both staff wellbeing and the humane treatment of prisoners.
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“Ultimately, for the majority of adult prisoners effective rehabilitation is simply not happening.”
Ryan recommended the government initiate a formal inquiry into the operation of Hakea to identify practical solutions.
More than $4 million has been allocated in the state budget for custodial infrastructure planning, while this masthead understands the Department of Justice has boosted prison officer recruitment.
The government also established the Hakea Safer Management Taskforce in response to an earlier inspection of the prison by Ryan.
However, for Appleby, four stints inside could have been just one, he said, if he had been given access to the addiction support and counselling he desperately needed to help him overcome his repeat offending.
He remembers one lockdown lasting four days straight.
“It’s one of those things that you can’t really explain unless you’ve been there and done it, just being confined, you know, stuck in this room with two other people, and now the only thing you really got to do is lay there and think about your thoughts,” he said.
“It’s definitely not good for people that have mental health conditions.”
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