CCTV failure dismays family
20.04.2010
By: TONY KOCH
THE revelation that closed-circuit television footage does not show what happened when Townsville mental health patient Lyji Vaggs tried to be admitted to hospital last Wednesday has dismayed family and friends.
Mr Vaggs was the nephew of Aboriginal health academic and activist Gracelyn Smallwood, who yesterday said his death in Townsville Hospital had ``too many similarities'' to the 2004 death in police custody of Palm Islander Mulrunji Doomadgee.
Ms Smallwood yesterday confirmed that, at the insistence of Mr Vaggs's family, an independent autopsy was conducted on Sunday and they were awaiting the results.
``We want to know what was injected into him when he was held by six or seven security guards, hospital orderlies and police, and if capsicum spray or a Taser gun was used on him,'' she said. ``I was with the family when we met with police Ethical Standards investigators, the Crime and Misconduct Commission and hospital officials on Friday, and we were assured there was CCTV footage.
``Now we are told it did not record the incident which resulted in my nephew's death. It all has a familiar ring about it to me.''
Ms Smallwood said there were family members and indigenous workers available to be called to intervene if her nephew became agitated, but no effort was made to contact them.
