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Impaled Redfern teen 'rammed'

24 September 2004 - A REDFERN police Aboriginal liaison officer today accused police of covering up the cause of a wild riot and said officers had rammed teenager "TJ" Hickey before his impaling death.

The officer also said his house had been burned down and he had received death threats from the police warning him not to come forward.

Another liaison officer said he warned Redfern police command that trouble was brewing in the inner Sydney suburb the day before the February 15 riot, rubbishing an internal report that said not enough warning was given.

The explosive claims were made to the NSW parliamentary inquiry into Redfern, which resumed today for the first time since delivering its interim report last month.

The two liaison officers, civilians employed by NSW Police to promote better Aboriginal relations, were scathing of the interim Coburn report on the response to the riot, saying they were never asked about it.

"The reason they wouldn't ask me is because they're trying to cover up for exactly what took place down in Redfern that day," Paul Wilkinson said.

"That the police actually rammed the young kid ("TJ" Hickey)."

Mr Wilkinson, who has been transferred out of Redfern, said since the riot his house had been burnt down and he had received death threats from police telling him not to give evidence.

"I got death threats stating to stay away from this inquiry. And you may ask who from? The police."

Fellow witness Derek Wilson rubbished claims in the Coburn report that liaison officers had failed to identify unrest in the Block following TJ's death and in the lead up to the riot the next day.

Mr Wilson said he had told Inspector Bob Emery that trouble was brewing more than 24 hours before the situation exploded.

"I personally spoke to the duty officer on the 14th that there was going to be problems down at the Block as a result of what took place with TJ," he said.

"I told him that I was informed by a community member down there that there was going to be problems and for police to stay out of the Block because they were unhappy as to what took place earlier that day."

Mr Wilson also said police had kept an arrested rioter in the "doghouse" and refused him a blanket.

When Mr Wilson asked for a blanket on the youth's behalf, he said an officer told him: "F*** him. That'll teach him to throw rocks at my f***ing' car."

Mr Wilkinson said there was a racist element at the Redfern command, with one junior constable saying when he heard a scream: "I hope it was a coon underneath our tyres."

A coroner's report has found police were not responsible for the death of TJ, who fell off his bike onto a fence paling while being followed by officers.

AAP

Source: news.com.au

Calls to re-open Hickey case

25 September 2004 - SBS - An Aboriginal social justice group has called for the New South Wales government to re-open the inquest into the death of a teenager in Redfern which sparked a riot in the inner-Sydney suburb.

Ray Jackson, President of the Indigenous Social Justice Action Association, says allegations by two police Aboriginal liaison officers reveal that investigations into TJ Hickey's death and its consequences have been tampered with.

Yesterday, a Redfern police Aboriginal liaison officer, Paul Wilkinson, said his house was burnt down and he received death threats from the police warning him not to come forward to accuse police of covering up the cause of the riot in Redfern.

Mr Jackson's called on the State Attorney General, Bob Debus, to instruct the State Coroner to re-open the inquest.

"To allow the Hickey family to have a fully independent legal team, not one that was foisted upon them as was done originally, and that the whole matter be re-investigated - not by the police, but by officers of ICAC and the Ombudsman's office."

"We can't trust the police."

The NSW Police Minister, John Watkins, has called for a liaison officer who claimed he was bullied into silence by police to come forward with his allegations to enable them to be investigated.

Mr Watkins has also defended the failure of Redfern police to keep four Aboriginal community liaison officers.

Just seven months after the riots, two of the original four officers are reportedly on long-term stress leave and another has been transferred to another station.

Source: SBS Radio News

Police threatened me over Redfern inquiry: officer

24 September 2004 - An Aboriginal liaison officer has told a parliamentary inquiry into the February riot at Redfern in inner Sydney that he has received death threats from the police to warn him off giving evidence.

Two Aboriginal liaison officers have told the inquiry that they warned senior police that trouble was brewing the day before the riot broke out.

An internal police report, known as the Coburn report, found police did not receive enough warning.

Derek Wilson says he told Inspector Bob Emery that locals in the Block area were angry about the death of teenager TJ Hickey.

Mr Wilson says he warned that police should stay away.

His fellow liaison officer, Paul Wilkinson, dropped a bombshell.

He claimed a police report into the riot was a cover up, and TJ Hickey had been rammed" by police.

"I've had me house burnt down as a result of the crap that's gone on, I've had death threats stating to stay away from this inquiry," he said.

"And you may ask who from? The police."

Source: ABC News

Further information: redfern riots

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