Date finally set for inquest into death in custody of Aboriginal woman in Broome
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Version 0 of 1. A long-awaited inquest into the 2012 death in custody of an Aboriginal woman in Broome police station will be held in February. Maureen Mandijarra died in the cells of the police station on 30 November 2012 after being arrested for drinking in public. The inquest date was set this week. According to a contemporary report in the Australian, police had picked up Mandijarra for drinking beer at Male Oval, a grassy patch near the Broome visitor centre frequented by Aboriginal people sleeping rough in the Kimberley resort town. The report states that the 44-year-old was found dead by a police officer who went to release her at 4.30am the next day. She had apparently died in her sleep, and the woman sharing her cell had not noticed. Mandijarra was born in the remote community of Balgo, 920km from Broome. She had been sleeping rough in Broome for about two years. Her sister, Pauline Mandijarra, told The Australian last year that the inquest was being held up by WA Police, who have to give the report of their initial investigation to the coroner. “Sometimes I ring up the coroner mob and I ask them and they say they are waiting for the papers from police,” she said. “We still want to know what happened to my little sister.’’ The coroner’s office received the police report in September 2014 – almost two years after Mandijarra’s death. The WA attorney general, Michael Mischin, said in November 2014 that he expected the inquest would be held in the middle of this year. It is not known why it was delayed again. The WA government has been criticised for the long delay in bringing Aboriginal deaths in custody to inquest, after an inquest date was set for the death of 22-year-old Yamatji woman Julieka Dhu, who died in Port Hedland lock-up on 4 August 2014. Dhu’s inquest will be held ahead of those for two deaths which occurred earlier. The inquest into Dhu’s death will be held in Port Hedland in November, and the inquest into Mandijarra’s death will be held in Broome on 22 to 26 February 2016. Six Aboriginal people have died in custody in WA in the past four years, including the death on Monday of child killer Mervyn Bell. |