Dhu case to be heard by State Coroner

The death of a South Hedland Aboriginal woman while in police custody will be investigated by the State Coroner.

A spokeswoman for State Coroner Ros Fogliani said she "has carriage for the file in relation to the death of Ms Dhu", who died on August 4 after being held at South Hedland police station.

The spokeswoman said no timeline had been set for an inquest but the Coroner was working to progress the matter as soon as possible.

“The State Coroner has requested and is waiting to receive a number of witness statements relevant to the investigation of Ms Dhu’s death,” the spokeswoman said.

“Once she has received all of those materials she will be in a position to further progress the investigation by obtaining expert reports.

“The court is making every effort to progress the matter as soon as possible.”

Confirmation that the investigation into Ms Dhu’s death will be handled at State level, rather than by the Pilbara District Coroner, comes four months after Premier Colin Barnett made a personal commitment to Ms Dhu’s family to reduce the number of Aboriginal deaths in police custody.

Ms Dhu, whose first name is not used for cultural reasons, died three days after being jailed in the South Hedland watch house over unpaid fines of $1000.

On Tuesday, Mr Barnett said he did not have the answers for Ms Dhu’s family but that a great deal of effort was going into addressing rates of imprisonment.

He said arrangements were being made to meet with Ms Dhu’s family, and it is believed he will travel to Port Hedland in April.

At a rally outside the State Parliament in Perth on Wednesday, a petition containing 701 signatures calling on the Government to implement a number of measures to prevent further deaths in custody was handed to Greens Member for the Mining and Pastoral Region Robin Chapple.

Mr Chapple tabled the document in the Legislative Council on Thursday.

For more on this story, pick up the North West Telegraph on Wednesday.