Councillor Lacey agreed Palm Island was a different place now. Police Commissioner Ian Stewart admitted mistakes were made with the way the QPS handled the death in custody. Jury acquits Hurley on manslaughter and assault charges. Snr Sgt Hurley breaks silence, testifying in his own defence. (Wotton v State of Queensland (No 5) [2016] FCA 1457, Federal Court of Australia website.) [66] More specifically the ad stated: "Zimbabwe is a good example of what could happen where politicians override the laws to suit themselves. Review: The Tall Man - Trespass Magazine From the time he was found unresponsive in that concrete. 2004 Palm Island death in custody - Wikipedia (. [50] They further noted that the medical evidence before the Coroner allowed for the possibility that punches were one possible explanation for the facial injuries or bruises, but the medical evidence unequivocally rejected punching described by Bramwell as a cause of death. [23] Former Premier Wayne Goss dismissed as "cheap politics" the union's demand for attempted murder charges to be laid, he said their comments since the death in custody had been consistently unhelpful. [58], Sen. Sgt. "Just hope nobody goes through that, what we went through, especially on this island.". Premier Peter Beattie was due to open the new facility in February 2005, in the lead-up to the launch (while the Coronial inquiry was just beginning) Mr Beattie was asked not to proceed with the launch by the Doomadgee family. ), Wotton was later convicted of inciting a riot and served 19 months in prison before being released on parole. [88] The CMC demanded that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) hand over the tapes and backup tapes of particular interviews with Yanner and Foster which were central to the investigation, the interviews then had to be deleted from ABC audio and computers. [8], The arresting officer, Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, and the Indigenous police liaison officer, Lloyd Bengaroo, were flown off the island the following Monday, after receiving death threats and Hurley's house being burned down. I think the current police leadership here at the moment with the current officer in charge is pretty OK, because he's more about community engaging," he said. [23], An emergency situation was declared under the Public Safety Preservation Act 1986 (the Act) on the afternoon of the riot. Cameron Doomadgee (who was also known by his tribal name of Mulrunji) was a resident of Palm Island. The case arose from the 2004 death in custody of Mulrunji, previously known as Cameron Doomadgee, whose treatment sparked riots on the island. Hurley medically retired from the Gold Coast station of the Queensland Police in 2017[2] following a string of charges while serving as a police officer including assault and dangerous driving. [45] Public funded investigation and prosecution alone cost at least A$7 million. The coroners preliminary report found that Mulrunji died after falling over a step. [23] The Palm Islanders faced charges of riot, arson and assault.