The Inspector of Correctional Services has launched a critical incident review into the Sunday death at the Alexander Maconochie Centre, the second death in custody at Canberra's jail in just over a year.
This independent process, which will result in a public report to the ACT Assembly, is being conducted separately from the police investigation on behalf of the Chief Coroner, Ken Archer.
Deputy Inspector Rebecca Minty is leading the OICS investigation as the chief inspector, Neil McAllister, prepares to wind up his five-year term in mid-March.
The OICS review is certain to be released before the coronial inquiry, given the significant case load already before the Chief Coroner.
The review is expected to shed light on the required formal assessment made of Justin Cordy's mental health condition when he entered the jail on Saturday, just days after he had been released previously.
On Tuesday the Justice and Community Safety directorate issued a brief statement which confirmed that Mr Cordy, 34, died on Sunday in his cell, alone, around 1pm.
His body "was found by corrections officers during routine checks", the statement said.
"ACT Policing has notified the next of kin, and we extend our condolences to the family and friends of the deceased."
No further details have been provided.
All new detainees admitted to Canberra's prison are required to undergo a primary health admission assessment which includes a mental health assessment, and it should record any history of depression or suicidal vulnerability, as well as the detainee's known drug and alcohol history.
Unlike most prisons around the country, detainees at AMC customarily are locked in their cells from noon until around 1pm each day to allow custodial staff to have their lunch break.
The cause of death will be a determination for the Coroner.
Mr Cordy had been returned to the prison after a court hearing on Saturday and had been classified as a remand detainee. Around 24 hours later he was found dead, and an immediate lockdown of the prison was ordered.
A target of Operation Toric, the ACT police task force which identifies recidivist offenders, Mr Cordy had only been out of custody for three days when he allegedly went on a crime rampage on Friday in which police alleged he assaulted his partner, stole a vehicle, rammed a police car in a Theodore car park, crashed a car, broke into a home and stole a knife, and resisted arrest when found attempting to break into another vehicle.
Remanded in custody, he had not formally entered a plea on the 32 charges arising from that series of incidents.
It has been a little over a year since the previous death in custody at Canberra's prison when a male prisoner aged in his 20s took his own life in the AMC's Management Unit during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. His assessment on entry to the prison found he had no previous history of self-harm.
The OICS report into the 2022 death found that "the apparent suicide ... was not reasonably foreseeable by ACT Corrective Services" but that the manner in which it occurred "had been known [by Corrective Services] since 2015".
The coronial hearing into the 2022 death in custody has been scheduled for May.
