The mother of Kathleen Worrall - who had been jailed for killing her sister - believed she had been assaulted by a prison officer before she was found dead in her cell, an inquest heard today.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Maureen Worrall claimed in several conversations with Detective Senior Constable Mark Jackson that, on the night before she died, Kathleen told her a male Corrective Services officer had made a sexual advance, which she had rejected, the coronial inquest heard at Parramatta Coroner's Court this morning.
"Kathleen mentioned she had been punched once by a prison officer," Mrs Worrall allegedly told police.
In an address to Deputy State Coroner Scott Mitchell, Kathleen's father, John Worrall, asked why police had not asked inmates about the alleged abuse.
"They might know more about that than corrective services officers," he said. "I'm disconcerted."
Kathleen, 22, died on August 1 last year, two months after she was jailed for stabbing her sister, Susan, 18, to death in 2008. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter in June last year.
She was jailed for a minimum of four years and three months.
The coroner found today that Kathleen had died of a pulmonary thromboembolism, with obesity being an indirect cause.
Mr Mitchell said that whether Kathleen "made up" the allegations of abuse by a corrective services officer is "something that we will never know".
"If Kathleen did make it up then it is an indication of the trouble and distress which she was experiencing.
"If it did happen, all I can say is that police have tried and failed to clarify the matter."
Before the hearing into Kathleen's death got under way, Mrs Worrall wept and said: "I want her to be alive so much."
Her parents went to Dillwynia Correction Centre on August 1 to visit their daughter.
When they got there at 9am, they said they were ushered away and were told she had died.
Mr Worrall told the inquest: "It was probably quite correct procedurally, but it jarred very hard with us as parents.
"We actually walked in and had to be taken aside to be told the visit wouldn't go ahead.
"We wanted to see where our daughter died. At least she died among people who were friends."
Kathleen, who had the genetic condition congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), stabbed her sister more than 50 times, after fighting over a hair straightener and computer password.
Before this, she had stopped taking her medication because of side-effects such as rapid weight gain.
The condition varies in severity but is particularly difficult for women, who struggle with symptoms including excess body hair and a masculine appearance.
By the time she killed her sister, it is believed Kathleen had the testosterone levels of an adult male.
At her funeral last year, Mr Worrall told the congregation that she had experimented with not taking her medication before, and that this contributed to the extreme mood swings that caused the death of her sister.
At her funeral last year, Silverwater Correctional Centre chaplain Margaret Wiseman said Kathleen deeply regretted the grief her family suffered after Susan's death.
"She wished she could turn back the hours but of course she couldn't," the chaplain said.
Corrective services statement
Corrective Services NSW issued a statement today, saying: "The circumstances surrounding the death of inmate Kathleen Worrall at Dillwynia Correctional Centre in August last year have been thoroughly investigated by Corrective Services NSW and NSW police.
"Allegations that the deceased had been assaulted and sexual advances made to her by a corrections officer were referred to police. Police conducted a thorough investigation and found there was no evidence to support these claims."
Correction
An editing error in an earlier version of this story incorrectly said that Kathleen Worrall had been jailed for life.
