From early articles in Queensland newspapers it would seem fair comment that there was a level of dissatisfaction in the palm island community with some of the police stationed there which resulted in community outrage when one of those officers was at the centre of one of the most widely publicised Aboriginal Deaths in Custody to date.
The tragic and senseless death of a drunk and allegedly aggressive Mulrunji Doomadgee in custody at the Palm Island watch house at the hands of/ in the care of a senior-sergeant on duty who has made admissions about events of that night and it seems, changed the story more than once is the climatic event which appears to have got the ball rolling and started this saga.
Relatives weren't told, and it's alleged that Doomadgee was either not checked or that he was checked but had not moved at all from the position he was left in by the senior-sergeant and was found to be deceased when eventually someone actually went into the cell to find out why he hadn't moved.
Mulrunji Doomadgee died from injuries which included Four broken ribs, ruptured liver and a ruptured portal vein, which the senior-sergeant alleges occurred accidentally when he fell onto Mr. Doomadgee during a scuffle while putting him into the cell.
Mulrunji Doomadgee was dragged by the senior-sergeant and dumped either unconscious or already deceased, but nevertheless unmoving and in fact never again moved from where he was put by that senior-sergeant.
All hell broke loose when family and friends found out that Mr. Doomadgee was deceased and the well reported riots were the result of community grieving, discontent and anger over the circumstances surrounding the death, many believing the police person involved was culpable.
The coroner confirmed what the media and the community of Plam Island thought to be true, that the death of an Aboriginal in custody had occurred and that it had been a result of a blow or blows inflicted by the officer handling him on the night he died.
After political intervention, the senior-sergeant was tried in court and acquitted, found not guilty of causing the death after it seems retracting his earlier story of how the events took place.
It was no surprise that the police retaliated against the rioters from Palm Island, and they swept in in numbers and arrested several of the most vocal people, one of which has already been tried and sentenced to six years imprisonment. This is the thin end of the wedge, expect more to be charged and taken to court and summarily to jail. We have already seen the officers from Palm Island awarded medals for heroism and for valor in performing their duty during the riots as the rioters are carted off in prison vans.
But wait there's more.
The latest is that the senior-sergeant has taken action to have the original coroners version of the cause of death overturned and have a new ruling of "accidental" replace it.
I almost believe that it will happen, without ceremony, I see nothing salvageable that is good from the police or the courts and they appear to me to be trying to reduce all responsibility for any and all actions from the time this saga began.
I doubt there will be opportunity for community to respond and if the previous press comments are any guide there will be a lack of police on the streets for a while because they will all be writing in letters of support for one of their own in a callous display of arrogance and disregard for the life of someone in their care.
Assuming the death was a result of an accident, which will in all probability soon be the truth, then how do these heroes explain;
1) Dragging and propping up an unmoving body.
2) Not checking that person despite the allegation that he was belligerent and aggressive before the "accident" and still hasn't moved since.
3) the changing stories from all involved.
I'm not taking sides here, nor am I making accusations, but I am stating facts and asking questions, read this from the Courier Mail:
A JUDGE has ordered a new inquest into the death in custody of Palm Islander Mulrunji Doomadgee after an appeal by the policeman at the centre of the case.
Lawyers for Senior-Sergeant Chris Hurley, who was last year found not guilty of manslaughter after a high-profile trial, had gone to the District Court to appealed the adverse findings of an acting coroner on the 2004 death.
In a bid to clear his name, Senior-Sergeant Hurley launched the unprecedented attack on a coronial ruling that found he had killed Mulrunji by punching him three times.
Judge Bob Pack, in a ruling handed down today, said the possibility of “accidental death’’ could not be excluded.
“I order the State Coroner to direct another Coroner to re-open the inquest to reexamine the finding,’’ Judge Pack wrote in his findings.
“I conclude the Coroner’s findings are against the weight of the evidence.
“The Coroner found Hurley did not have physical contact with Mulrunji in a relevant way and thereby concluded the death must have been caused by punching from Hurley.
“I indicate that after taking into account the medical evidence, because there is evidence supporting the proposition Hurley fell on Mulrunji, and there are reasons why he said he did not fall on him, that despite what Hurley said, the hypothesis of an accidental death cannot reasonably be excluded.’’
The appeal comes after an aborted coronial inquest and a subsequent two-year inquest, a finding by the Director of Public Prosecutions of insufficient evidence, an independent review by Sir Laurence Street suggesting the manslaughter trial go ahead, and a manslaughter trial in the Supreme Court where a jury found Hurley not guilty.
The Gold Coast-based policeman admitted during his manslaughter trial to killing Mulrunji in a ``complicated fall'' but denied a deliberate knee drop.
In September 2006, deputy coroner Clements found that Snr-Sgt Hurley struck Mulrunji and caused his fatal injuries on November 19, 2004, at the police station on Palm Island, off Townsville.
Riots erupted on the island seven days later after an autopsy found Mulrunji suffered four broken ribs, a ruptured liver and a ruptured portal vein in a watchhouse scuffle.
2 comments:
We should be ashamed of the treatment and the prejudice in this country for it's indigineous inhabitants, which judging by this story continues to this day.
The Palm Island incident should be well documented as the biggest cover up since the Fitzgerald enquiry.
It is hard to believe that police who were involved in the death in custody of a local aboriginal man, whether it was actually causing his death with the infliction of injuries or turning a blind eye while he died alone in his cell, could be awarded medals for heroism while protestors who did nothing more than call for the police to be removed, and with fear of their own demise at the hands of the police, destroy police facilities, get years of jail time.
The police will get nothing but contempt with that sort of carry on, and will be seen in the community as covering up a murder, and compounding a voilent protest.
The police minister should have replaced the officers and a propper investigation should have been carried out, the police minister should be held accountable.
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