home | news l

Aussie cops cleared after riot-sparking death

New South Wales coroner John Abernathy said on Tuesday the death of Aborigine Thomas "TJ" Hickey, 17, was a "freak accident" and police were not to blame.

Hickey's death sparked a mass protest in the inner-Sydney suburb of Redfern last February which descended into one of Australia's worst race riots, with police and masked demonstrators facing off for nine hours only kilometres away from Sydney's iconic Opera House.

Hickey, 17, died after becoming impaled on a fence post when he fell off his bike near his home in the notorious ghetto known as "The Block".

His family and members of the tight-knit but disaffected Aboriginal community said police were chasing Hickey at the time, causing him to lose control of his bike and blamed them for his death.

They said entrenched police racism fuelled the riots during which 40 police officers were injured and 25 people were charged with various offences.

Abernathy said police constable Michael Hollingsworth had followed Hickey in a police wagon identified as Redfern 16 as he rode his bike shortly before the accident, but the coroner cleared him of contributing to the boy's death.

"I am unable, however, to find as a probability the actions of Redfern 16 in following TJ Hickey contributed in any way to his death."

Describing the incident as a "freak accident", Abernathy urged the Aboriginal community in Redfern to put the matter behind them.

However, Hickey's mother wept uncontrollably during the court proceedings and a statement, criticising the coroner's finding, was read on her behalf outside court.

"I'm pleased that the coroner has decided police were following TJ ... but I'm disappointed that the coroner said that police did not cause TJ's death," the statement said.

"TJ was a good kid, he was always kind to his sisters, he was only 17 and we all love him and we miss him very much."

A member of the Redfern Aboriginal community, who asked not to be named, said locals had expected the coroner to clear the police.

"Over the years they've been cleared of a lot of things," he told AFP. "That's just par for the course.

"Only three people really know what happened N the two police and TJ. The coroner wouldn't know, he wasn't there."

Police Association president Bob Pritchard said police had been "completely vindicated" by the coroner's finding that they had "acted appropriately".

"The police on that day acted very bravely, courageously and in very tragic circumstances," Pritchard said outside court.

Source: AFP

Australian police cleared over Aboriginal riot

17 Aug 2004 - SYDNEY - Australian police were cleared on Tuesday of causing the death of an Aboriginal boy which sparked a nine-hour riot in Sydney's black ghetto in February.

A coroner's inquiry found that police were following, but not chasing, 17-year-old Aborigine Thomas Hickey when he was impaled on a metal fence after falling from his bicycle.

News of Hickey's death quickly spread around the ghetto on the southern outskirts of Sydney's central business district and some 100 Aborigines and others fought a running street battle with 200 police, throwing molotov cocktails and bricks.

Forty police were injured and more than 25 people charged.

Aboriginal leaders said at the time the riot reflected underlying racism in Australia and the dislocation of Aborigines, the country's most disadvantaged group.

Hickey's family believed police had been chasing him when he was impaled, but police denied they had pursued the teenager nicknamed "TJ".

New South Wales state coroner John Abernethy said Hickey's death was a "freak accident".

Hickey's mother wept as the coroner read out his report.

"I'm disappointed that the coroner said that police did not cause TJ's death," Gail Hickey said in a statement.

Police Association President Bob Pritchard said the coroner's findings showed that police in the inner-city suburb of Redfern, site of the black ghetto, were dedicated and acted properly.

"The police on that day acted very bravely, courageously and in very tragic circumstances," Pritchard told reporters.

New South Wales state premier Bob Carr called for calm and for people to stop blaming each other over Hickey's death.

"Mistakes were made, but I don't think it's valuable to play the blame game," Carr told reporters.

Australia's 400,000 Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders make up two percent of Australia's 20 million population.

Aborigines remain the nation's most disadvantaged group, dying 20 years younger than other Australians with far higher rates of imprisonment, unemployment, welfare dependency, domestic violence and alcoholism.

Source: Reuters

Australian Police Cleared

August 17, 2004 - Australian police have been cleared of causing the death of an Aboriginal teenager which sparked one of the country's worst race riots.

A New South Wales coroner has judged that the death of 17-year-old Thomas "TJ" Hickey was a "freak accident".

Hickey's death sparked a mass protest in the inner-Sydney suburb of Redfern last February.

Some 40 police officers were injured during the riots and 25 people were charged with various offences.

The teenager died after being impaled on a fence post when he fell off his bike near his home in an area known as The Block.

His family and members of the Aboriginal community said police were chasing Hickey at the time, causing him to lose control of his bike.

The coroner said a police van, identified as Redfern 16, had followed Hickey as he rode his bike shortly before the accident.

"I am unable, however, to find as a probability that the actions of Redfern 16 in following TJ Hickey contributed in any way to his death," coroner John Abernathy said.

Hickey's mother said she was pleased the coroner had decided police were following her son.

"But I'm disappointed that the coroner said that police did not cause TJ's death," a statement said.

"TJ was a good kid, he was always kind to his sisters, he was only 17 and we all love him and we miss him very much."

Police Association president Bob Pritchard said police had been "completely vindicated" by the coroner's finding.

Source: Sky News (UK)

Sydney death 'not police's fault'

By Red Harrison
BBC, Sydney

17 August, 2004 - Police in Australia have been cleared of having caused the death of an Aboriginal boy, Thomas "T J" Hickey.
The death led to one of the country's worst race riots earlier this year.

At an inquest in Sydney, the coroner described the death of the 17-year-old as a freak accident and said police were not to blame.

The boy's family and friends say a police patrol car chased him, causing him to fall off his bicycle and become impaled on a fence post.

Police deny they had been chasing the boy and the coroner, John Abernathy, agreed with them.

Mr Abernathy found that a police car was following Hickey through the streets of the inner city Sydney suburb of Redfern but he was satisfied, he said, that this did not contribute to the boy's death.

The driver of the police car declined on legal advice to give evidence.

Hickey died in hospital the following day, leading to serious clashes between police and Aborigines in which more than 40 police were injured by youths who attacked them with stones, bottles, bricks and fireworks.

Hickey's mother wept uncontrollably at the inquest as the coroner urged Sydney's Aboriginal community to put the incident behind them.

The premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr, agreed.

Mr Carr said there was nothing to be gained in playing the game of finding someone to blame.

Source: BBC

Further information: redfern riots

|| click to go to the top of this page