Glenn Mills A Coroner’s Inquest has heard the man accused of purposely infecting a string of sex partners with HIV was extremely anxious about the publicity surrounding his case, and threats from other inmates, prior to his death in his Auckland prison cell. Coroner Katherine Greig has reserved her findings following an inquest into the death of Glenn Richard Albert Mills. The 40-year-old beneficiary was found dead in his cell at Mt Eden Men’s Prison on the morning of 30 November 2009, while he was on remand awaiting trial. Mills was due to appear in court on the day of his death and the inquest heard that during his time in prison he had been “sad and worried”. An 11 page note was found in his cell, in which he expressed he found prison life challenging, and the public interest in his case to be causing concern and extreme anxiety. Mills also wrote that he found each appearance at court to be particularly stressful due to the public interest. A manager of the prison’s health centre gave evidence that Mills was taking anti-depressants at the time of his death and was regularly assessed, but was always found not to be at risk of self-harm. Mills also reported being verbally abused and threatened by other inmates, and spent all of his six months in prison in voluntary segregation, three months of which was in a medical wing of the hospital due to an HIV-related infection. He was returned to a cell in late October, something he objected to. His file shows there was an “altercation” in the medical wing when he was told he was being relocated. It was in early November that he reported being threatened by other prisoners. Mills was found dead after 4AM on 30 November and had not been checked on since 5PM the previous night. The wing where he was being held in the old prison had an exemption from regular night checks due to the risk of guards being stabbed through the peepholes in the cell doors. Coroner Greig questioned Corrections staff extensively on procedure and policy in relation to the case, before announcing she would reserve her findings. She extended her condolences to Mills’ family, but also to the people impacted by the case. “The circumstances around Mr Mills’ arrest and then death were in the media a great deal and that they have been in the media again today, and my thoughts are with those people as well,” she said. The inquest was set down for three days but only took one. The Coroner will release her findings and recommendations in due course. Detective Sergeant Andy King, who led the investigation into Glenn Mills, also outlined the bones of his extensive case, touching on some of the revelations GayNZ.com shared last year about allegations of sexual violation and the enormous scope of the inquiry.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 12th March 2012 - 5:11pm