“Prisoners are treated like animals”, said Kylie Hampton, in an October Northern Territory Coroner’s Court hearing, about her father’s treatment in the jail system.

Her father, Aboriginal man Peter Clarke, had been jailed in Alice Springs for a minor offence. But his health deteriorated as he approached his parole date. His family does not know how long he suffered before he was transferred to hospital on 19 March, where a coma was induced.

He was diagnosed with pneumonia, emphysema and lung cancer. He remained comatose in the intensive care unit of Alice Springs hospital. On 3 April he passed away, aged 56. He was shackled to his bed.

Mr Clarke’s is not an isolated case. The inquest into his death follows a 2012 report, “Ombudsman investigation into the Department for Correctional Services in relation to the restraining and shackling of prisoners in hospitals”. In unremitting detail it describes case after case of degradation and humiliation.

“Prisoner E”, for example, was a man in his 60s whose motor neurone disease made it difficult for him to stand. This did not save him from being chained to his bed under guard. The hospital’s request that his restraints be removed was eventually approved – but the order was not passed on for three days.

“Prisoner F” was chained at the wrist and ankle as he cowered, shaking, under his hospital blanket. He was refused even padding for the shackles, which hospital staff reported had cut into his skin.

“Prisoner D”, transferred from prison to hospital to give birth, was chained to her bed. She endured severe back pain. Her requests to be allowed to shower were denied. She received an epidural, which as well as numbing the pain of childbirth, severely limits a person’s capacity to move their legs or walk without support.

Because of this, hospital staff made several requests to have the shackles removed. The requests were denied. The South Australian Department of Corrections claimed there was “a risk that she may try to escape”. The shackles remained in place until five hours after her first contraction. She was unchained to give birth, but shackled again two hours and 34 minutes later. She spent a total of 6 hours and 15 minutes out of chains.

These are just some examples of a cruel system designed to dehumanise its victims.

Kylie Hampton said, “They treated my father without human dignity. They knew he was ill. He was an ill man going into prison three years ago. He suffered from diabetes and only six months before he died had been hospitalised for pneumonia, and once again then too they let him get seriously ill.

“Had he not been Aboriginal he may have been treated better. Instead, we are now without our father. I feel my father died at the hands of injustice, and my family wants justice.”