Austin and Gerard Mununggurr charged over fight that killed 17-year-old Yirrkala boy

Long delays in the case of a teen killed in a fight have exposed the day-to-day challenges facing Territory courts – including how to wrangle 49 witnesses from remote communities.

Long delays in the case of a teen stabbed to death in Yirrkala more than two years ago have exposed the day-to-day challenges facing Territory courts. Picture: Floss Adams.

The case of a Northern Territory teenager fatally stabbed more than two years ago is yet to be resolved, as repeated setbacks and delays highlight the difficulty of administering the law in remote communities.

A 17-year-old boy was killed during a clash between rival Marika and Mununggurr families in the East Arnhem community of Yirrkala on April 28, 2021.

Two men allegedly involved in the fight that led to the teen’s death, Austin Mununggurr, 25, and Gerard ‘Wuluma’ Mununggurr, 23, had their matter heard at the Darwin Supreme Court on Monday.

Crown prosecutor Steven Ledek told the court how “frustrating” the process of moving forward with the case had been.

“We’re not really encouraged by any progress that has been made thus far, in fact we’re going backwards,” he said.

Mr Ledek said they would not be able to use the Audio-Visual Link facilities at the Nhulunbuy court, 15 minutes from Yirrkala, to question their list of 49 civilian witnesses.

“The Nhulunbuy AVL set-up is so unreliable, and then when it does work it’s so broken up and unclear and the audio is so terrible that you wouldn’t be able to facilitate those connections,” he said.

“There’s a police station AVL but I know that a lot of witnesses are very reluctant to go into the police station.

“I think we’re going to have to bite the bullet and charter a flight to get that first tranche of witnesses here (to Darwin).”

Lawyers involved in the matter of the slain Yirrkala teen have spoken of the ‘frustrating’ process progressing the case through the Supreme Court. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The case was originally set for trial in November last year, but was pushed back to September unless a plea can be entered in the coming months.

Gerard Mununggurr’s lawyer Julie Franz told the court that defence counsel had struggled to speak with their clients after multiple plans to travel to Yirrkala had to be cancelled due to other court commitments.

Even if travel could be arranged there were currently no interpreters in Gove or Yirrkala, Ms Franz said.

“We had asked the Legal Aid Commission to assist with funds for each of the accused to come in but unfortunately they’ve got a blanket policy they won’t pay for the accused to travel up to Darwin for their matters,” she said.

Ms Franz said finding the funds for Austin and Gerard Mununggurr to be able to fly to Darwin would be key “to try to avoid a trial if at all possible”.

The pair were charged with recklessly endangering life, going armed in public and engaging in violent conduct.

Two other men were also charged in relation to the fight which was estimated to have involved between 50 and 100 people.