A man convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl is among several inmates suing the State of Western Australia, alleging inhumane conditions at Hakea Prison and seeking taxpayer-funded compensation. Fernando Octavio Salas-Collard, 35, claims he has been subjected to severely reduced access to services due to repeated confinement in his cell between December 2022 and August 2026.
Salas-Collard was convicted of raping the teenager in a public toilet block at Coogee Beach in January 2024. The court heard he forced his tongue down the girl's throat after covering her mouth when her friend called out for her. A judge at the time stated that society was tired of "men treating women like some sort of commodity."
The lawsuits were lodged in the Supreme Court of Western Australia by the Aboriginal Legal Service on behalf of multiple inmates. They allege the state, the Department of Justice chief executive, and the Hakea superintendent failed in their duty of care. Salas-Collard, who has a prior conviction for aggravated grievous bodily harm, is seeking damages, interest, and costs.
Fellow inmates Arthur Lewis Ninyette, serving a sentence for domestic and sexual violence including an assault where he held a tomahawk over his victim's head while choking her unconscious, and Dylan Ross Sesar, jailed for theft and assault, are also pursuing legal action.
These legal challenges coincide with a warning from Inspector of Custodial Services Eamon Ryan, who stated that Western Australia's prison system is at a "crisis point" and nearing "functional collapse." His June report indicated a 37 percent surge in prison numbers since January 2023, leading to severe overcrowding.
The watchdog found that hundreds of cells were triple-bunked, with up to 200 prisoners sleeping on mattresses on the floor next to toilets. The report highlighted conditions that may constitute "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment," drawing parallels to the circumstances before the 2018 Greenough prison riot.
Ryan's report noted systemic failures across multiple prisons, posing a serious risk to the safety and wellbeing of inmates and staff. Inmates have reported issues including cockroaches, lack of laundry facilities, broken toilets, and insufficient access to phones and time outside cells. Female inmates at Melaleuca Women's Prison reported being locked in cells for up to 50 hours consecutively, while Hakea prisoners claimed to have experienced days with no out-of-cell time.
The watchdog also warned of rising self-harm rates, increased use of force incidents, and a heightened risk of deaths in custody, citing eight apparent prison suicides between January 2025 and February 2026.
