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A scene from the riots on Palm Island almost two years ago, sparked by the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee. |
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Police officer to blame for Palm Island death
Issue 114 - 21 Sep 2006
NATIONAL, Sept 27, 2006: Deputy Queensland coroner Christine Clements has found that Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley was responsible for the death of Palm Island resident Mulrunji Doomadgee when he was taken into police custody on the island in November 2004.
Ms Clements rejected Hurley's explanation of how Doomadgee died, but also explained that legislation governing her role prevented her from recommending whether Senior Sargeant Hurley should be charged with murder.
It will now be up to the Queensland Government to decide whether or not to proceed with charges against Senior Sargeant Hurley.
Ms Clements also said that police needed more training in dealing with these situations and questioned whether drunk people should be put in a watchhouse cell.
Earlier, Ms Clements has found that Palm Island resident Mulrunji Doomadgee should never have been arrested just before he died back in 2004.
Ms Clements, who is in the process of bringing down her findings in Townsville, also said that the police investigation into Doomadgee's death was "inappropriate" and "deficient" until the Crime and Misconduct Commission became involved.
Ms Clements told a packed court at the Townsville Law Complex today that the coroner's report into the death of the Palm Island man failed to meet deaths-in-custody guidelines.
She said the Queensland police commissioner needed to restore public confidence in the force.
Doomadgee died after a scuffle with senior sargeant Chris Hurley, when he was arrested for drunkeness in Palm Island on November 19, 2004.
The first autopsy revealed he had four broken ribs and a ruptured spleen and his liver was almost split in half.
Those findings prompted riots which destroyed the island's police barracks.
Police witnesses told the inquest the injuries occurred on the morning of the arrest when Sergeant Hurley fell on top of Mulrunji as the two men scuffled and then fell on the steps leading into the police station.
Some witnesses to the incident, islander residents, claimed they saw Sergeant Hurley "roughing up" Mulrunji.
The new inquest has lasted 22 months, with sittings at Townsville and Palm Island.
Community leaders have enlisted the help of Brisbane-based lawyer Andrew Boe to convey the findings of the inquest to island residents, in the hope of avoiding a repeat of the 2004 riots.
Mr Boe will use the National Indigenous Radio Service this afternoon to convey the findings to residents, using common language rather than legal terminology.
High-profile Aboriginal activist Murrandoo Yanner urged Ms Clements to refer Sgt Hurley to the DPP for prosecution.
"The coroner needs to expedite this at the greatest urgency," Mr Yanner said.
He said that if justice was not afforded to Palm Islanders "then people will find justice elsewhere in other ways".
"If they burn the next police station down on Palm Island - I'm certainly not encouraging it - but if they did, I would understand totally and I would support people taking that action," he said.
"What will certainly be happening right across Aboriginal Australia, particularly in Queensland, there will be an extreme hardening of views towards the police service by us."
Mr Yanner said he would help the family pursue a civil case against Sgt Hurley if no charges were laid.
Australian Democrats deputy leader Senator Andrew Bartlett said major reforms were needed to the way police dealt with Aboriginal people.
"We are calling for the recommended changes to be implemented urgently and properly to prevent repetitions of senseless deaths in custody and finally get out of this historical rut our nation is in," Senator Bartlett said.
He said the case highlighted "a wider failure" in the way the police and justice system engaged with indigenous people.
"Not all police are racist, but the treatment meted out to indigenous people by some police and the system they work within is historically entrenched in our history and culture and this must be dealt with once and for all," he said.
Queensland Greens spokesman Drew Hutton said the tragedy went wider than the death of one man.
"His mother died of a broken heart soon after him and his son committed suicide," Mr Hutton said.
"The Palm Island community is also still trying to come to terms with his death."
Sydney lawyer and human rights advocate Stewart Levitt said the finding that Sgt Hurley had struck Mulrunji, causing his death, raised concerns over the handling of violence against Aborigines in custody.
"Not a single arrest was made in the period of seven days between Mulrunji's death in custody and the Palm Island riots," he said.
"Without the good work of the Deputy State Coroner, it is likely the only people to be punished for what happened to Mulrunji and inducing the grief reaction of the Palm Islanders, would be the victims and not the perpetrators."
Mr Levitt urged the Queensland government to review all cases that involve Aboriginal injury or death suffered in police custody. - AAP
 
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