Death in custody preventable: SA coroner

The hanging death of a prisoner in Adelaide's Yatala Prison in 2011 could have been prevented, a coroner has found.

Mark William Payne, 28, hanged himself in his cell despite being held in an area under constant CCTV monitoring because of concerns for his wellbeing.

In his finding on Thursday, coroner Mark Johns said the monitoring system was inadequate and flawed with the vision from Payne's cell only appearing on screen in a control room for five minutes of every half hour.

"Mr Payne's death was preventable," Mr Johns said.

"It was directly attributable to the five in 30 process, to the lack of a dedicated officer to monitor cameras and the lack of a standalone monitor."

The coroner said the video footage of Payne's final moments showed that he looked quite deliberately at the camera in his cell before taking his life.

"Although we can never know the truth of the matter, I was left with a strong impression that he thought he was being monitored," Mr Johns said.

"If that were correct it may be that Mr Payne was not intending to take his life, but was hoping to be rescued.

"That possibility makes even more poignant an already tragic set of circumstances."