Justice, Freedom & Finding Amanraya
Death of Stuart Dugan, my Friend
Goodbye, My Aussie Friend
I will dearly miss you.
I would like to tell you of a special man who became my best friend: Mr. Stuart William Dugan. I had seen him around the prison yard, often tending the garden, but had never spoken to him. My reputation for helping prisoners with legal matters had spread and one day Mr. Dugan shyly approached me with a faint glint of hope in his eye and asked me if I would help him with an appeal of conviction to the Supreme Court. At that time, I was chocker-block with prisoner’s cases, including my own, but seeing the hope in his eyes I couldn’t turn him down.
Mr. Dugan’s case involved CLEAR false accusations of sexual abuse (case and his appeal in my possession). Over a lengthy period, I managed to produce an appeal with 9 rock-solid grounds, most proving his innocence. Mr. Dugan was aged 65-67 during those years. He had been extradited to Western Australia from his home in Victoria after the accusations had been made. Dugan would tell anyone who would listen: “Johnny’s my life-line. He’s gonna get me out of here so I can go home to my family in Victoria”.
I had sworn to him I would. Because of that hope he had in me, those were the happiest times for Mr. Dugan, in spite of prison, and always good-spirited, joking, lifting other’s spirits.
Just a few months or so before his appeal hearing Mr. Dugan began to show signs of being ill. He went to the prison doctor but was told it was only a 'chest infection' and prescribed antibiotics. In the following weeks he began coughing blood. It became worse as the weeks progressed. Each time he went to the doctor he was told that it was just a 'chest infection' and prescribed more antibiotics (all of which I documented, including the medications). He grew weaker, losing weight rapidly, but still kept his spirits up, always thinking of others before himself. Those of us closest to Mr. Dugan knew something was terribly wrong. We complained to the prison admin (as did two good officers) to get him proper help.
Then, during one night, they came and took him away. In the morning, after they unlocked us, we found Mr. Dugan’s cell locked up. He was not there. Because of the of the hell I and another prisoner (and the two officers) had caused, any information about Mr. Dugan was clamped down tight. One of those officers was re-deployed as a result of fighting to get Mr. Dugan help, but to little avail. They wanted it all covered up, silenced, and I was threatened with harm if I didn’t back off. I would never see my friend again.
Sometime later I received a letter from Mr. Dugan, which had been smuggled into me by still another good, compassionate officer. The letter was good-bye letter (see above); my friend had advanced cancer in his lung. He was not going home to Victoria after all. My friend was going to die in just a few weeks.
The doctors at Murdoch Hospital had told him that if it had been treated when he first complained, they could have saved him. But it had been neglected too long – deliberately. I later learned through a reliable source (a nurse at the prison) that the prison had recently adopted a policy not to tell a prisoner if they have cancer, deeming them not worth the money to save them via expensive treatments. In effect, my friend was willfully executed, given a death sentence.
I wrote to the Supreme Court of Appeal to inform them that Mr. Dugan had cancer and had been given only weeks to live. I requested that his appeal hearing be moved forward. At the very least I wanted my friend to leave this life the way he had entered it: Innocent. The hearing was indeed moved up, but those bastards on the bench dismissed his entire appeal on ‘permission for leave to appeal out of time’. This is a common tactic used by the Court of Appeal so that they never have to address the actual grounds, which are always damning and unjust, and so the public can never see the corruption used to put innocent men in prison.
My friend, Stuart William Dugan, passed away on the morning of 4 May 2017 in the presence of his elder daughters from a previous marriage who had flown in from Victoria to be with their father, whom they also knew to be innocent. All of this is recorded passionately in my journals, as well as having all his notes and his case and documents in my possession, which I’ll one day publish to the Internet for the world to see and judge.
When I was at last released from prison and deported from Australia on 31 December 2017, I carried Mr. Dugan’s letter – and a photo of my daughter whom I was forced to leave behind – in the breast pocket of my leather jacket, close to my heart.
Please Watch My YouTube Dedication to Mr. Dugan Here >>
Wadonga, Victoria, Australia
Near Wodonga, Victoria, Australia.
Hope you're there, Stewy...
Mr. Stuart William Dugan
Prisoner, Friend and ‘Brother’
Died in custody an innocent man, 4 May 2017 at 8.45 AM
after being neglected of medical attention for many weeks.
And for all who languished, suffered or died
for no more evidence than a mere accusation.
I know your anguish.
~~~~