Witness: I could see Doomadgee's `scuffle'
09.03.2010
By: Tony Koch
THE key civilian witness to the 2004 watchhouse death of Palm Island man Mulrunji Doomadgee has changed his story, telling a fresh inquest he had a clear view of the incident rather than one obscured by a filing cabinet.
Roy Bramwell, who was in the Palm Island cell block at the time Doomadgee was brought in, said yesterday he clearly saw the arresting policeman put his knee on the prostrate Aborigine's chest and punch him.
He said he had had initially given a different account of what happened -- including the claim that Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley repeatedly punched Doomadgee -- because he felt intimidated by the other Queensland police called in to investigate the 2004 death in custody.
His changed version of events emerged on the opening day of the third inquest to be convened into the Doomadgee death.
Mr Bramwell told an earlier inquest his vision of the ``scuffle'' in the lockup was partially obscured by a tall filing cabinet.
Yesterday, as the first witness at the new coronial inquest before Deputy Chief Magistrate Brian Hine, Mr Bramwell said he had seen the entire incident because it was reflected in a round 1m-diameter convex mirror mounted on the wall behind where the scuffle between the police officer and the prisoner took place.
Mr Bramwell told Mr Hine yesterday he had detailed this account in a statement to the Crime and Misconduct Commission in October 2006.
Doomadgee, 36, was arrested by Sergeant Hurley for swearing and disorderly conduct on November 19, 2004, but died of internal injuries including a severed liver soon after arriving at the Palm Island lockup. Deputy State Coroner Christine Clements found in 2006 that Sergeant Hurley was responsible for the death of Doomadgee, and he was charged with manslaughter and assault. In June 2007, a Townsville jury found him not guilty of both charges.
Evidence was given to Ms Clements's inquest by Mr Bramwell that he had been arrested and was in the Palm Island police station when Sergeant Hurley brought Mr Doomadgee in and a ``scuffle'' ensued on the concrete floor.
He said Sergeant Hurley was punching Doomadgee and applying knee pressure to the right side of his chest, saying: ``You want more, Mr Doomadgee?''
Mr Bramwell, who is illiterate and had been drinking on the day of Doomadgee's death, was not called to give evidence at the trial of Sergeant Hurley.
Yesterday Mr Bramwell said of Sergeant Hurley: ``He had his knee on him. (He was) moving his knee, forcing himself on him and punching him.'' Pressed by counsel assisting the coroner, Ralph Devlin SC, about why he had not revealed this key evidence before, Mr Bramwell said he did not have ``a JP'' -- a member of the Community Justice group -- and that the police were ``on side'' with Hurley.
The current inquest was ordered by the Queensland Court of Appeal following action taken by Sergeant Hurley after his manslaughter acquittal seeking to have struck from the record Ms Clements's finding that he was responsible for Doomadgee's death.
Mr Hine has been required to inquire specifically into the ``mechanics'' of Mr Doomadgee's death, because the cause of death is undisputed. Medical evidence given previously was that the autopsy revealed Doomadgee had suffered facial bruising, four broken ribs, a ruptured portal vein and his liver was so damaged it was cleaved almost in two.
The hearing continues on Palm Island today, and moves to Townsville tomorrow and on Thursday to hear evidence from police and witnesses, including Sergeant Hurley.
