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Concept
2004 Redfern riots
Summary
The 2004 Redfern riots took place on the evening of Sunday 15 February 2004, in the inner Sydney suburb of Redfern, New South Wales, and were sparked by the death of 17-year-old Thomas Hickey, also known as TJ Hickey, resulting from a bike accident in the neighbouring suburb of Waterloo on 14 February 2004.
The circumstances surrounding Thomas "T.J." Hickey's death are disputed. On the morning of Saturday 14 February 2004, the 17-year-old Aboriginal Australian boy was riding his bicycle downhill while a police vehicle was patrolling the nearby area. According to New South Wales Police, he collided with a protruding gutter and was flung into the air and impaled on a high fence outside a block of units off Phillip Street, Waterloo, causing penetrating injuries of the neck and chest. Police officers at the scene administered first aid until New South Wales Ambulance officers arrived. Hickey died with his family by his side early on 15 February 2004.
A large proportion of the inquest centered on whether police were "pursuing" Hickey, or "following" him. At the conclusion of the coronial inquest, NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney was interviewed on ABC Radio and gave this explanation of the distinction: "I think if you were to ask the person on the street the definition between, and not a Concise Oxford Dictionary definition, but if you were to ask somebody their interpretation of being followed and being pursued I think they are two distinct and clear actions. Being followed, I think, in the ordinary layman's mind, creates a particular picture. Being pursued by police creates a completely different picture and clearly there was no evidence that Mr Hickey was being pursued in the normal definition of that word".
Moroney supported the driver of the police truck, Senior Constable Michael Hollingsworth, in his refusal to give evidence. Both maintained this was a "normal civilian right".
According to police, they arrived at the scene quickly with Constables Hollingsworth and Reynolds arriving a few minutes after the first police vehicle.
Official source
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