The Wire

Another Indigenous death in custody will go without criminal charges being laid. In 2008 Aboriginal elder Mr Ward died in the back of a prison transport vehicle on a 400 kilometer journey. Temperatures were estimated to be 50 degrees Celsius inside the van, where Mr Ward was found unconscious. Despite a coronial inquest finding that the Department of Corrective Services, the two prison van drivers and their employer G4S were all partly responsible, the Western Australian Department of Public Prosecutions (or DPP) announced today that it would not be laying charges.