Voice recording of Western Australian Police officer found laughing at Aboriginal death

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The ABC has obtained a voice recording of a serving Western Australian police officer laughing about the suicide of an aboriginal prisoner in Kalgoorlie. In the private voice note the constable admits she dismissed the prisoner's warning that he was going to "kill himself" and then laughs about the outcome. And a warning this story contains distressing details and the name and images of an aboriginal person who has died.

Transcript

00:01Linton Ryan's family are in mourning after the 31-year-old died in his prison cell in April.

00:08The Noongar Wongai Adyamatna man killed himself while on remand at the Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison.

00:16In the days that followed, a Kalgoorlie police officer sent a voice note to a friend.

00:22I interviewed a man the other day, and he was like, I'm going to kill myself.

00:26And I was like, yeah, whatever, put him in the cells. He went to prison the next day and then he killed himself.

00:30Um, lol. Don't tell anyone that.

00:34His mother and brother are distressed by the recording.

00:37They could have done something before he went and committed a suicide.

00:43And they want answers from authorities.

00:47We need prison and the police to be held accountable. People just can't die in their custody and their care.

00:52In a statement, WA police says the officer has been stood aside following the ABC's inquiry.

00:58An internal affairs investigation has commenced, but it was not appropriate to comment further at this time.

01:04Police arrested Linton on March 28, after a fight with his partner.

01:09He was charged with aggravated assault, occasioning bodily harm, and taken to the Kalgoorlie police watch house.

01:15It's here where Linton told the officer he was going to kill himself.

01:21If a man enters prison in that state with those warning signs and has taken his life, that is a damning indictment on the system.

01:31I present the following reports of the Royal Commission.

01:34More than 30 years after the Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody found Western Australia had the worst record in the nation.

01:44Data compiled by the Australian Institute of Criminology reveals it still does.

01:48It tells us that we have initial systemic racism, that their life is not being valued and that their Aboriginality is a reason for that.

01:58The WA Department of Justice says the safety and wellbeing of all individuals in its care is a top priority.

02:05The department said it couldn't comment specifically on Linton's death because it's subject to a coronial inquest.

02:13But that could take years for Linton's family to get answers from the coroner.

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