NT Death in custody inquest opens after dying man Mati Tamwoy spent two years on remand

A palliative care patient spent nearly two years in prison waiting for his court date, despite his co-accused being released after just six months.

This month NT Coroner Elisabeth Armitage opened her initial investigation into his death in custody.

A dying man spent his final 695 days locked in a Territory prison cell waiting to be sentenced, all over a stolen phone and a wallet.

Mati Tamwoy, a 66-year-old Indigenous man, was given between three to six months to live after being diagnosed with blood cancer.

The remand prisoner spent his last days shuffling between his Darwin Correctional Centre cell and his chemotherapy sessions at the hospital.

On November 17, 2023 the palliative care patient and prisoner suffered an “episode” and died in hospital.

This month NT Coroner Elisabeth Armitage opened her initial investigation into his death in custody, telling his Queensland relatives that she would help them “learn a little bit more about Mati’s last period of his life and his passing”.

“The inquest looks at whether he was cared for properly in prison and also whether he was cared for properly at the hospital,” Ms Armitage said.

Court documents accessed by the NT News have revealed that despite the 66-year-old dying man spending almost two years waiting for a court date, his co-accused was released after just six months in prison.

Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage. Picture: Jason Walls

There are no records of the 66-year-old ever applying for bail in his 21 months on remand, but his file featured multiple criminal callover hearings and a cancelled four-day trial in February 2023 which was never reallocated.

In comparison, his 34-year-old co-accused was sentenced to six months prison and an 18-month good behaviour bond by the Supreme Court in September 2022.

Justice John Burns heard that, despite a domestic violence order against him, Mr Tamwoy and the younger woman were drunk and verbally abusing fellow passengers on the Number 10 bus on July 20, 2022.

The court heard the pair narrowed their focus on a 62-year-old stranger on the bus, who was visibly uncomfortable with their antics.

After five minutes the older woman got off the Rapid Creek shopping centre, but was followed by Mr Tamwoy and the 34-year-old.

It was alleged Mr Tamwoy threw a bottle of wine towards her, and the terrified woman hid at the nearby vet clinic until she thought they were gone.

After five minutes the older woman got off the Rapid Creek shopping centre, but was followed by Mr Tamwoy and the 34-year-old. Picture: Annabel Bowles

When she tried to leave the 34-year-old woman pulled the 62-year-old to the ground, punched her in the face and yelled: “Give me $10 you old c—t and you won’t get hit”.

“Bash her. Kick her head in. Kick her,” Mr Tamwoy allegedly yelled.

While the Supreme Court documents made no mention of the 66-year-old man physically taking part in the violence, it alleged he grabbed the victim’s handbag and shook its contents onto the ground.

He allegedly took her wallet, mobile phone and key card.

It was only when the victim told the pair she was from Oenpelli, that Mr Tamwoy told the 34-year-old to leave her alone.

Fourteen months later, Mr Tamwoy died in custody still waiting for his court date.

Mr Tamwoy was one of 861 Territorians who spent time in prison either awaiting sentence or fighting for their innocence, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The ABS said Territory remand rates hit 40 per cent in 2023 — the worst rate in a decade — while a quarter of all unsentenced prisoners were left waiting more than six months for their case to be finalised.

The finalisation rates of the Territory courts have also been on a consistent decline for the past four years, according to the Justice Department’s latest annual reports.