Post by ppyenews on Jan 30, 2007 6:33:27 GMT -5
Welcome to Talkback Topic – I’m Phillip Pye.
Death in custody is nothing new to the Aboriginal community. In proportion to people of other races the rate is rather high. Some sections of the community suspect that these deaths have being caused, either directly or indirectly, by the police and prison authorities, though subsequent statistics have suggested that there is no widespread culture of police brutality towards Aboriginal people. Cameron Doomadgee, who died in the police watch-house on Palm Island, 70km north of Townsville on November 19, 2004, is the most recent case which has of late received somewhat controversial response. This case is though by no means the first to implicate Police involvement.
Eddie Murray was 21 when he was last arrested. On June 21 1981 he was drinking under a tree with his cousin and some friends. He was arrested at 1.45 am, taken to Wee Waa Police Station, and held under the Intoxicated Persons Act. Within the hour he was dead, strangled with a blanket in his cell. At the inquest the police claimed he had killed himself by hanging, even though they agreed under cross examination that he was "so drunk he couldn't scratch himself". Yet according to the Police, Eddie had managed to tear a strip off a thick prison blanket, deftly fold it, thread it through the bars of the window, tie two knots, fashion a noose, and hang himself without his feet leaving the ground. Later the police were found to have lied under oath. The coroner ruled that Eddie had died "at the hands of person or persons unknown" and strongly criticised the police. No-one was charged with Eddie's murder.
The Cameron Doomadgee case though has seen the Police Officer involved first relieved from prosecution by the Director of Public Prosecutions Leanne Clare but former New South Wales chief justice Sir Laurence Street disagreed and Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley is now charged with Manslaughter, a move that has angered the Queensland Police Union who have resorted to threats of strike action. The fact is that Cameron Doomandgee was a well loved and respected local who simply made an error of judgement, he got drunk. What followed after his arrest however resulted in a ruptured Liver, a ruptured spleen, and four broken ribs, and finally, his death.
What is not well known is that The Palm Island Council has received reports that this is not the first time the Police Sergeant involved has had to be removed from a community because of a similar series of incidents and the Council would like to know why he was re-assigned to another Aboriginal community without consideration. It is obvious that there are cases where some Policemen have taken the law into their own hands, an act they defy but hopefully this case will open up the truth and pave the way for it to not occur again and, with a little luck, have cases such as that of the late Eddie Murray re-opened.
I’m Phillip Pye.
Death in custody is nothing new to the Aboriginal community. In proportion to people of other races the rate is rather high. Some sections of the community suspect that these deaths have being caused, either directly or indirectly, by the police and prison authorities, though subsequent statistics have suggested that there is no widespread culture of police brutality towards Aboriginal people. Cameron Doomadgee, who died in the police watch-house on Palm Island, 70km north of Townsville on November 19, 2004, is the most recent case which has of late received somewhat controversial response. This case is though by no means the first to implicate Police involvement.
Eddie Murray was 21 when he was last arrested. On June 21 1981 he was drinking under a tree with his cousin and some friends. He was arrested at 1.45 am, taken to Wee Waa Police Station, and held under the Intoxicated Persons Act. Within the hour he was dead, strangled with a blanket in his cell. At the inquest the police claimed he had killed himself by hanging, even though they agreed under cross examination that he was "so drunk he couldn't scratch himself". Yet according to the Police, Eddie had managed to tear a strip off a thick prison blanket, deftly fold it, thread it through the bars of the window, tie two knots, fashion a noose, and hang himself without his feet leaving the ground. Later the police were found to have lied under oath. The coroner ruled that Eddie had died "at the hands of person or persons unknown" and strongly criticised the police. No-one was charged with Eddie's murder.
The Cameron Doomadgee case though has seen the Police Officer involved first relieved from prosecution by the Director of Public Prosecutions Leanne Clare but former New South Wales chief justice Sir Laurence Street disagreed and Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley is now charged with Manslaughter, a move that has angered the Queensland Police Union who have resorted to threats of strike action. The fact is that Cameron Doomandgee was a well loved and respected local who simply made an error of judgement, he got drunk. What followed after his arrest however resulted in a ruptured Liver, a ruptured spleen, and four broken ribs, and finally, his death.
What is not well known is that The Palm Island Council has received reports that this is not the first time the Police Sergeant involved has had to be removed from a community because of a similar series of incidents and the Council would like to know why he was re-assigned to another Aboriginal community without consideration. It is obvious that there are cases where some Policemen have taken the law into their own hands, an act they defy but hopefully this case will open up the truth and pave the way for it to not occur again and, with a little luck, have cases such as that of the late Eddie Murray re-opened.
I’m Phillip Pye.