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Palm Island student teacher Virginia Coutts... she told the court she saw a man other than Lex Wotton carrying a red petrol tin around the time the local police station was torched. |
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LEX WOTTON TRIAL: Second teacher tells court she saw petrol tin carried by another man
ISSUE 164 - 16 Oct 2008
By Chris Graham
IN BRISBANE
NATIONAL, October 16, 2008: An Aboriginal student teacher stationed on Palm Island during the 2004 uprising has told a Queensland court that she saw a different man to Lex Wotton carrying a red petrol drum around the time the local police station was torched.
Virginia Coutts was the seventh witness to give evidence in the trial of Lex Wotton, who is facing charges of riot with destruction. The uprising came one week after the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee, on November 19, 2004.
Mulrunji had been arrested by the most senior officer on the island, Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, but within an hour of being taken into custody he was dead on the floor of a police cell, having sustained massive internal injuries.
Ms Coutts today told the court that she saw a man she knew as Russell Parker carrying a red petrol drum. Her evidence came a day after fellow Palm teacher Joelene O'Neill had told the court she saw Mr Wotton walking towards the Palm Island police station carrying a red petrol tin.
Ms O'Neill had acknowledged in court that her family was in a dispute with the Wotton family, but denied any suggestion it had prompted her to give police a false statement about Mr Wotton.
Ms Coutts told the court she saw Mr Wotton carrying a large “constructors wrench”, and that at one point he was confronted by a man she called 'Guru' (David Bulsey), who pushed Mr Wotton away from the police station.
Ms Coutts said a woman called Pam Johnson then took the wrench away from Mr Wotton.
She told defence counsel for Mr Wotton, Clive Steirn SC that she did not see Mr Wotton throw any stones, or cause any damage.
MR STEIRN: Did you see Lex Wotton smash anything?
MS COUTTS: No.
MR STEIRN: Did you see Lex Wotton damage anything?
MS COUTTS: No.
MR STEIRN: Did you see Lex Wotton burn anything?
MS COUTTS: No.
MR STEIRN: Did you see Lex Wotton throwing rocks at the police station or any policemen?
MS COUTTS: No.
But challenged by Mr Steirn about seeing Mr Wotton carrying the “constructors wrench”, Ms Coutts' testimony remained unchanged.
“That's what you believed it to be,” Mr Steirn said.
“I saw it …” Ms Coutts replied.
Ms Coutts also told the court that out of a large group of people at the police station, only about four of five of them were attacking the building. Mr Wotton was not one of them. She testified that most of the people gathered were simply onlookers, like herself.
A succession of police witnesses are now giving evidence in the trial, including Sergeant Craig Robertson, an officer from Townsville summonsed to the island in the days after the death of Mulrunji.
Mr Robertson filmed parts of the confrontation with police on his own personal camcorder.
• NIT will provide details of Sgt Robertson's testimony this evening, along with the evidence of other police.
 
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