00:00Liz Dempsey holds on to the happy memories of her niece.
00:06She was a kind-hearted person and soft.
00:11The death of 44-year-old mother of five, Kumonjay Dempsey, in the Tennant Creek Watch House in December has rocked her family.
00:20It's just devastating.
00:23It's the second death in custody her family has suffered.
00:26another niece died by suicide in child protection in durban in 2014 you know here's one of ours
00:34again um dying in custody there's no healing from it the nt police say kuman j dempsey died in the
00:46cells after a medical episode almost two days after her arrest for aggravated assault she had
00:52rheumatic heart disease but police say she didn't tell them she was ill she should have been seen to
00:58if wasn't that day at least try for the next day unlike all other major towns in the nt
01:06tenant creek doesn't have a watch house custody nurse to check detainees health despite this
01:12being recommended by a coronial inquiry in 2012 they failed in their duty of care to my niece
01:20and they they need to be held accountable for it justice and health groups think a watch house
01:30nurse could have prevented the death they want a nurse employed now we know everything we need to
01:35know to be able to say this is the right response and so it should be actioned immediately the nt
01:41government says it won't make any changes until coronial investigations conclude to determine
01:48what custody arrangements are best for tenant creek another measure meant to prevent deaths is the
01:54requirement that all aboriginal people taken into police custody get to call a 24 7 indigenous legal
02:02service hotline the lawyers can then tell the police about any health concerns they've missed often
02:08people in custody don't like speaking directly to police but they will give that information to us
02:13and ask us to tell the police client confidentiality means legal services can't disclose whether this
02:21happened or not in kuman j dempsey's case the nt police have declined further comment while they
02:27investigate her death but her aunt wants action now don't just put it on a piece of paper and then let
02:35it fly away something she believes has happened too often after other deaths in custody
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