Tammy Shipley was a loving and joyful mother who adored her five children and two grandchildren, creating TikTok videos and picking tomatoes for her grandchildren from her garden, an inquest has heard.

Shipley, 47, died while being held on remand at Silverwater women’s correctional centre in New South Wales on 20 December 2022, after being arrested on minor shoplifting charges.

An autopsy found Shipley cause of death was hyponatraemia, caused by extremely low levels of sodium, due to polydipsia (experiencing unquenchable thirst) and complications of schizoaffective disorder.

On Tuesday, the court heard from her mother and four of Shipley’s children about their loss. Hayley, 22, became overwhelmed with her grief and her statement was read to the court by a close friend.

“She was someone who laughed constantly, cared deeply for her children and was part of our family and community,” she wrote, saying her mother’s death has irrevocably changed her life – altering her mental health, relationships and sense of safety.

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“I ask that this court recognise the depth of what has been taken from us: a mother, a daughter, a sister, a nanny, a friend, and most importantly, a woman whose story matters.

“Her life mattered, her love mattered, her loss will live with me for the rest of my life.”

Chloe, Shipley’s second-eldest daughter and mother of her two grandchildren, told the court that while Shipley had mental health challenges, she’d escaped a domestic violence relationship and provided a safe haven for her children.

“My mum opened my eyes for a better life without the abuse and healing after separating from my dad, and I know you’ll be proud of the woman that I am becoming,” saying that it was difficult to tell her children that their grandmother was gone.

Shipley survived two bouts of non‑Hodgkin’s lymphoma and her children recalled sitting by her bedside while she received treatment that her mother, Vickey Shipley, said she had to fight for.

“I am so angry that during my daughter’s life, I have been her advocate at every institution. All these were meant to be safe and there to protect and help her, but they didn’t,” her mother told the court, saying that she believed her psychiatric conditions were poorly managed at times.

“Tammy knew she was unwell, she gave me guardianship and power of attorney so that when she needed a voice, she had one. But in so many instances, it was not worth the paper it was written on. It either wasn’t followed or simply ignored.

“We recognise there is a fine line between someone’s freedom and coercively providing them care when at times, they don’t realise they are sick. When Tammy was being appropriately cared for, she was able to live a better life for her her kids, being as much as possible, a normal member of our society.”

The inquest had previously heard that NSW police did not tell either the NSW corrections department nor the custody management officers that Shipley suffered from a number of mental health conditions.

Earlier, the inquest heard from Prof Olav Nielssen and Prof Michael Large, who both gave extensive evidence into the high-profile Bondi Junction stabbings inquest.

Both gave evidence about models of care such as ensuring that there are multidisciplinary support care teams for people living with complex mental health and psychiatric conditions with people likely to access community based support such as GPs.

Neither doctors treated Shipley but were familiar with her history and case through the inquest process with Prof Nielssen providing a report to the coroner.

An inquest into her death began in September 2024 but was adjourned after the police commissioner challenged the coroner’s jurisdiction to also examine the circumstances of Shipley’s arrest.

The inquest, under NSW coroner Teresa O’Sullivan, is continuing.

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