The chief of the Serco team to escort me to Villawood was called Cxx. Cxx explained the procedure to travel to Villawood.
According to him, we would travel by a van and it was the standard procedure applied to everyone that: I had to be in handcuffs all the way; the van was allowed to stop only at police stations; for the safety of the staff, the van had to stop at a police station every two hours; at the halfway, I had to move to another van which would come
from Sydney to pick me up. I was astonished. For my last visit to Villawood in 2006, traveling on road was my choice as I had a fear of hight. It was not the standard. I was not in handcuffs and we stopped at service stations whenever we felt like stretching our legs and walking around a bit. We had snacks, coffee, and meals and used a
toilet at those service stations. Apparently, that was a story of good old days in the last century. In 2017, obviously, the treatment of detainees are far worse than that In 2006! No coffee, no meals, no walking around but handcuffs!
From the start, Cxx repeatedly said that he was doing a favour for me by choosing the lightweight handcuffs to keep me comfortable. I don't know what kind of brain he had to be able to think that a person could be comfortable in handcuffs attached to the waist belt by short chains! Even the police don't use such a restraint when they transport their prisoners. I had that kind of restraint only once after I failed to kill myself in a holding cell at the Brisbane Courthouse. That was the kind of restraint to reserve for the extreme situation like a person is attempting a suicide. And Cxx told me that using it was a favour for me!!!
While proudly explaining the lightweight handcuffs, Cxx showed me the heavier handcuffs that he said to be used for a transport in a daytime. The heavier handcuffs are also not the kind of handcuffs I have ever seen. Even the police don't use such handcuffs. The heavier handcuffs looked like a big metal block and cuffs attached to the
sides of the block. In my impression, the size of the block was 5*5*2cm (L*W*H). I could imagine those handcuffs were heavy but not only that, they must prevent any movement of the arms of a detainee. Unlike the cuffs connected to a chain in between, the block would not allow any change of the angle of cuffs and both hands would be just liked tied together.
Anyway, I was restrained by what Cxx said to be the lightweight handcuffs and got in the van. In 2006, I had a pillow and a blanket. This time, no blanket. Serco girls told me that I should have a sleep but the waist belt was hurting me and my hands could not reach a pillow to adjust the place and there was no blanket! In addition, every two hours I had to got out of the van as Sercos wanted to go to a toilet and have some drink in a police station where it was so cold to make me shiver. It was impossible to have any sleep. While in the van and in police stations, I asked both Serco members and the GP to give a call to my Partner to let him know that I was heading for Villawood. But no one did. In 2006, I could give a call to him to let him know that I would be sent off to Villawood. In 2017, it was not allowed.
At Kempsey, maybe at around 2:30 or 3:00am, I was handed over to another Serco team came from NSW.
According to him, we would travel by a van and it was the standard procedure applied to everyone that: I had to be in handcuffs all the way; the van was allowed to stop only at police stations; for the safety of the staff, the van had to stop at a police station every two hours; at the halfway, I had to move to another van which would come
from Sydney to pick me up. I was astonished. For my last visit to Villawood in 2006, traveling on road was my choice as I had a fear of hight. It was not the standard. I was not in handcuffs and we stopped at service stations whenever we felt like stretching our legs and walking around a bit. We had snacks, coffee, and meals and used a
toilet at those service stations. Apparently, that was a story of good old days in the last century. In 2017, obviously, the treatment of detainees are far worse than that In 2006! No coffee, no meals, no walking around but handcuffs!
From the start, Cxx repeatedly said that he was doing a favour for me by choosing the lightweight handcuffs to keep me comfortable. I don't know what kind of brain he had to be able to think that a person could be comfortable in handcuffs attached to the waist belt by short chains! Even the police don't use such a restraint when they transport their prisoners. I had that kind of restraint only once after I failed to kill myself in a holding cell at the Brisbane Courthouse. That was the kind of restraint to reserve for the extreme situation like a person is attempting a suicide. And Cxx told me that using it was a favour for me!!!
While proudly explaining the lightweight handcuffs, Cxx showed me the heavier handcuffs that he said to be used for a transport in a daytime. The heavier handcuffs are also not the kind of handcuffs I have ever seen. Even the police don't use such handcuffs. The heavier handcuffs looked like a big metal block and cuffs attached to the
sides of the block. In my impression, the size of the block was 5*5*2cm (L*W*H). I could imagine those handcuffs were heavy but not only that, they must prevent any movement of the arms of a detainee. Unlike the cuffs connected to a chain in between, the block would not allow any change of the angle of cuffs and both hands would be just liked tied together.
Anyway, I was restrained by what Cxx said to be the lightweight handcuffs and got in the van. In 2006, I had a pillow and a blanket. This time, no blanket. Serco girls told me that I should have a sleep but the waist belt was hurting me and my hands could not reach a pillow to adjust the place and there was no blanket! In addition, every two hours I had to got out of the van as Sercos wanted to go to a toilet and have some drink in a police station where it was so cold to make me shiver. It was impossible to have any sleep. While in the van and in police stations, I asked both Serco members and the GP to give a call to my Partner to let him know that I was heading for Villawood. But no one did. In 2006, I could give a call to him to let him know that I would be sent off to Villawood. In 2017, it was not allowed.
At Kempsey, maybe at around 2:30 or 3:00am, I was handed over to another Serco team came from NSW.