The Wire

In December 2004, a Palm Island man – Mulrunji Doomadgee– was taken into custody, where he died less than an hour later, suffering four broken ribs and a ruptured spleen and liver. The death caused wide spread rioting on the island, and turned the spotlight once more on the treatment of indigenous people in custody. The man who took Doomadgee into custody, Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, was the first policeman in Australia’s history, to be prosecuted for an indigenous death in custody. He was found not guilty of manslaughter in June 2007. Now, Hurley’s trying to overturn the original findings of the coroner, in an attempt to clear his name.