Aboriginal death in custody

Issue 

The death of a 19-year-old Aboriginal man on October 27 at Cessnock while on home detention brings the number of deaths in custody in NSW this year to eight. Daniel Crossley died when he hung himself.

A death in home detention falls well within the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody definition of a death in custody, said the Indigenous Social Justice Association.

Crossley had breached his community service order and been given home detention for the remaining five months of the sentence. He had been issued with an ankle bracelet and confined to the home of his 16-year-old wife and five-month-old twins. Supervision of the detention had involved at least 12 face-to-face checks by his supervisor and up to 16 phone calls per day, some at 2 and 3am. The ISJA is asking whether such highly intrusive supervision could be considered harassment.

The ISJA has called on Corrective Services Commissioner Kelliher to apologise to Crossley's family for insensitive remarks made to the Newcastle Herald to exonerate the department which may have compromised the independence of the coroner's inquiry.

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