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TOWNSVILLE - A senior Queensland police officer blamed over the death of a Palm Island man in custody has been cleared after the state's top prosecutor deemed it a "terrible accident".
Deputy state coroner Christine Clements had ruled in September that Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley struck Mulrunji Doomadgee, 36, and caused his fatal injuries in November 2004 at the Palm Island police station. Riots erupted after the autopsy found Mulrunji suffered four broken ribs, a ruptured liver and a ruptured portal vein in a scuffle. The police station and courthouse were set alight.
But Director of Public Prosecutions Leanne Clare said yesterday that charges would not be laid against Hurley, who was stood down from operational duties while she considered the coroner's findings. The evidence was not capable of proving Hurley was criminally responsible. Mulrunji died from internal injuries caused "by a crushing force to the front of his abdomen" when he and Hurley fell together through the open door of the police station.
She said autopsy results showed neither kicks nor punches caused Mulrunji's death. "On the evidence, the fall is the only satisfactory explanation for the injuries ... the admissible evidence suggests that [it] was a terrible accident."
Townsville-based Aboriginal activist Gracelyn Smallwood said the decision was another slap in the face for indigenous Australians.
- AAP
