 death in custody of respected Warburton community elder mr Ian Ward
On the 27 January 2008 respected Warburton Aboriginal elder Mr Ian Ward collapsed in the back of a GlobalSolutions Limited van after a four-hour trip from Laverton to Kalgoorlie in Australia's remote West. Mr Ward died a short time later at Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital. The 46-year-old elder was being transferred to face a charge of drink driving. He was found unconscious in the back of the van in the middle of the afternoon when temperatures outside exceeded 40 degrees.
It is understood the van's air-conditioning may not have been operational. The van is part of a fleet owned by the Western Australian State Government but managed by the private prison management GlobalSolutions Limited.
The State Government's controversial deal with Global Solutions Limited, the group responsible for prisoner transport, could be tested, depending on the outcome of the investigation into Mr Ward's death. It was reported that "A GUARD sobbed as she told a hospital doctor it was "bloody hot" in the back of the van in which Aboriginal leader Ian Ward was locked for up to 4½ hours before he collapsed, vomited and died on the weekend." (The Australian 31st January 2008)
Police and the state government are refusing to release details of Mr Wards postmortem.
The Deaths in Custody Watch Committee of WA is currently undertaking a campaign for justice for the "former Warburton Aboriginal
Chairman, father of five and one of the last nomads born in the Gibson Desert".
Mr Ian Ward death in custody - news index
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