The grieving mother of Westgate inmate Kino Outerbridge told an inquest into his death that her difficulty getting answers had caused her to suspect a cover-up.However, the prison’s senior nursing officer Russ Ford told the jury he wouldn’t have done anything different from other medical personnel if he had been on duty the day Mr Outerbridge collapsed.Asked by Magistrate Juan Wolffe to describe what might have happened if Mr Outerbridge, a recovered addict, had taken a “hit” of heroin on that morning in the prison, Dr Ford said: “In my experience, many of those persons do not make it.”A postmortem of the victim detected heroin and heroin derivatives in the 37-year-old’s body, and pathologist Dr Chitra Rao attributed cause of death to acute diamorphine (heroin) poisoning.Two and a half years later, the inquest is seeking to determine how Mr Outerbridge met his death.The jury has heard from former inmates that Mr Outerbridge collapsed in a friend’s cell shortly after breakfast on the morning of October 6, 2009.Witnesses have alluded to the availability of drugs in Westgate, but have not described the methods by which contraband is smuggled into the facility.Mr Outerbridge’s medical record shows he admitted taking “heroin and cocaine for lunch” on the day he was admitted to Westgate, on August 17, 2009, and he tested positive for cannabis as well.Witnesses have also said he subsequently abstained from drugs, as reflected by his gain in weight.Questioned by coroner’s officer Sergeant Lyndon Raynor, current inmate Dean Burgess claimed not to remember details from his original statement to police, and said he had not been aware of Mr Outerbridge using heroin.However, Mr Wolfe queried him on details in the statement, in which Mr Burgess aid he had been “aware that Kino was using heroin while in [prison area] E1” and had warned Mr Outerbridge, a friend, that it was “a stupid thing to do”.Admitting that he had talked about drug use with Mr Outerbridge, Mr Burgess said he didn’t recall making that particular statement.Sgt Raynor asked him: “Are you saying that what you wrote is not correct?”“Some of the words I don’t remember saying,” Mr Burgess replied.Mr Burgess’s statement also contained references to Mr Outerbridge appearing sweaty and agitated.In court, he told lawyer Victoria Pearman, representing the dead man’s family: “All I remember was everybody saying that the boy was having a seizure. I don’t know what led to it.”Continued Ms Pearman: “Do you remembering hearing talk that it was drug related?”The witness replied: “No.”The victim’s mother, Shyrl Outerbridge, took the stand next, telling the court: “I’m not blaming anyone for my son’s death, because I do think he may have slipped that day. But from what I have heard, I do feel that they didn’t take very good care of him at the beginning.”Telling the court that she had been told repeatedly that it took 20 minutes for her son to get treatment, Ms Outerbridge said: “I went to [Commissioner of Prisons Edward Lamb] at some point.“I had heard all these stories. He said they were looking into it. I said 20 minutes is what I heard.“He said that wasn’t true. I said it could be a cover-up; he said no. I said, you were not there.“I was calling people and couldn’t get any answers. I took it that no one was going to do anything. I threatened to go to the newspapers. I didn’t feel that anyone really wanted to look into it.She continued: “I want to know what happened to my son. Have they looked into how the drugs got into prison?“Because prisoners can’t bring them in there. I also had it on my mind that around that time a prison officer had been discovered bringing in drugs.“I wondered if he or another officers had anything to do with the drugs my son may have had. I also wanted to think that his death was not in vain, and that if there was any lapse in the procedures, including medical procedures, that this will be addressed as a result of his death.“My son was a loving person and a devoted son, brother and father.”After hearing accounts from former inmate Toronto Darrell that he had been called to assist a medical officer with CPR, Mrs Outerbridge added: “They left my son in the care of prisoners who didn’t have experience. It doesn’t make sense to me. It took too long for them to help my son.”However, recalling the morning, Prison Officer Danielle Riley said she had grieved after the event — but had reacted swiftly on the morning of October 6 when, at about 8.12am, prisoners on the upper level began shouting that someone had collapsed.Arriving at the cell of inmate Garrett Burrows, Ms Riley found Mr Outerbridge unresponsive on the floor, checked his pulse, and shouted for assistance in “two or three seconds”, she said.She pressed the panic button on her belt to summon other officers.A nurse arrived within minutes, she said, with another coming to assist at 8.25am. At 8.38am, an emergency unit from the fire service arrived.According to Dr. Ford, an ambulance crew arrived at 8.52am, but Mr Outerbridge was pronounced dead at King Edward VII Memorial.Dr Ford, who administered a methadone programme for almost nine years, told the jury he had known many addicts who had died from overdoses.Mr Wolffe asked: “Being a senior nursing officer, having read the notes, would you have done anything different if you were the attending officer?”“No,” he replied, adding: “I probably would have arrived on the scene later than them, with my bad knees.”The inquest continues today.