Twenty-seven -year-old Kwementyaye Briscoe died on January 5 while in police custody in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Last week, the coronial inquest into his death began.
A man who was taken into custody with Briscoe told the inquest he watched police drag him through the watch-house, ABC Online said on June 13. Other prisoners saw that Briscoe was bleeding from the head, and one man told the inquest he could hear him “groaning and gasping for air”.
ABC said “he asked police officers on several occasions to check on Mr Briscoe and give him medical attention” but “his requests were ignored”.
On June 15, forensic physician Dr Morris O’Dell said “police should have recognised Mr Briscoe needed medical attention, and that a timely response may well have prevented his death”, ABC Online said that day. O’Dell described police actions as “inadequate”.
