Broome Magistrate says town’s prison location ‘obscene’ after latest drug-trafficking charge

A Kimberley Magistrate says it is “obscene” that Broome’s only prison is still located in the centre of the busy tourist town, following another drug-trafficking charge relating to the facility. Magistrate Deen Potter said having the prison only metres away from the CBD, homes and public spaces made it vulnerable to ongoing drug issues. His comments came during a Broome Magistrates Court hearing last Monday when 58-year-old Broome woman Marjorie Boxer pleaded guilty to one charge of attempting to supply a prohibited drug. The court heard Boxer was walking on the footpath just outside of the prison fences when one of the people from the group she was with threw a package over the top of the prison fence. Although she had not thrown the package herself, the woman had written a note on the package which is believed was to be intended for a younger person serving time inside. Mr Potter said the prison was most vulnerable to this sort of drug-trafficking from the back of the prison, especially given how the Kennedy Hill site overlooked the top of the prison fence. “It is obscene that there is a prison in the middle of Broome township in 2023,” Mr Potter said. The prison has been controversial for several years, with plans to move it out of the middle of town still yet to come to fruition. The dilapidated prison has seen several breakouts in recent years as well with Warrick Walkerbear and Maude Dixon, who burned down Broome Primary School, escaping the prison in October 26, 2021 and January 12, 2021, respectively. The Shire of Broome and the State Government have also come to blows over the location of the proposed new prison, with Harold Tracey, at the time the Shire president, alleging the State Government was “passing the buck” on the prison location. A Coroner’s inquest, released in April earlier this year, into the death in custody of a 46-year-old Aboriginal man at West Kimberley Regional Prison in 2021 found the man died after smoking an illegally obtained anti-psychotic drug. Although the inquest found Mr Albert’s death was caused by already present health factors and not the anti-psychotic drug, it also found the trading of prescription of drugs inside the prison was widespread, citing evidence given by several inmates. During Boxer’s hearing in court last Monday, defence lawyer Paul Tobin argued a range of health issues, a disadvantaged life and the fact Boxer had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity to the court should have resulted in leniency in her sentencing. The defence also argued the offence was at a low level, with the amount of cannabis being one gram or less. The prosecution said the harm the cannabis could cause in the prison was significant and suggested Boxer’s sentence needed to be harsher than a fine. “A suspended sentence of imprisonment is appropriate,” he said. Boxer was placed on a seven-month intensive supervision order with costs to pay of $264.30.