Head injury claim in Palm Island death

BRISBANE - Allegations that the man who died in police custody on Palm Island had suffered severe head injuries cannot be confirmed until a public inquest early next year, says Queensland coroner Michael Barnes.

Aboriginal activist Murrandoo Yanner said Cameron Doomadgee, who died on November 19 in the watchhouse on Palm Island, suffered injuries so severe he was unrecognisable.

"His jaw was swollen and disfigured and there was a heel-size lump of skin off his forehead," he told the Australian newspaper.

"I can tell you, the brother was unrecognisable."

Yanner said he saw the injuries as he helped to prepare his cousin's body for his funeral on Saturday.

Barnes said it would be inappropriate to comment on Yanner's allegations before a public inquest.

"At the inquest you'll have evidence from all the pathologists and photographs and everything else."

Barnes said the inquest would be held in nearby Townsville by late January or early February.

He said he had yet to receive information gathered from more than 30 interviews by Crime and Misconduct Commission officers, which would be revealed during the public hearing.

But Barnes said results from a second autopsy by a Melbourne pathologist were likely to be handed down before Christmas.

The initial Queensland Government-conducted autopsy found Doomadgee died as a result of an intra-abdominal haemorrhage caused by a ruptured liver and portal vein.

He also had four broken ribs.

The findings sparked a riot on the island on November 26 in which the police station, barracks and courthouse were burned.

The pathologist indicated there was no evidence to suggest that Doomadgee's injuries had resulted from the direct use of force, but they were consistent with falling onto a hard surface, such as the steps outside the watchhouse.

Doomadgee had struggled with arresting officer Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley during his arrest for being drunk.

Barnes said he did not expect the second autopsy results to differ greatly from the first findings.

- AAP