Cases launched over kidnapping, death

Cases launched over kidnapping, death

By Bill Mason

BRISBANE — Angry words were exchanged between Aboriginal Legal Service spokesperson Sam Watson and police officers during a court hearing on November 16 in which six police were charged with abducting three Aboriginal children from the Fortitude Valley Mall last May and dumping them in swampland at Pinkenba.

The charges follow a Criminal Justice Commission inquiry which recommended action against the police.

Meanwhile, the family of Aboriginal teenager Daniel Yock, who died in police custody a year ago in West End, have launched a private prosecution seeking to have four police officers charged over the death.

The unusual action, under a rarely used section of the Justices Act, has been launched by the ALS on behalf of the Yock family because they regard the CJC report, recommending no action against police, as "unjust".

From GLW issue 168