Hurley escapes charge over Domadgee death in custody

The man at the centre of the Palm Island death in custody saga has avoided prosecution over a coroner's finding that he committed assault.

The man at the centre of the Palm Island death in custody saga has avoided prosecution over a coroner's finding that he committed assault.

The decision by the Crime and Misconduct Commission is another blow for the family of Mulrunji Doomadgee, who died in November 2004 after scuffling with the officer in charge of the island lock-up, Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley.

In May, Coroner Brian Hine found that the original investigation into Doomadgee's death had been stripped of credibility because of a "perception of collusion" between Senior Sergeant Hurley and the police called in to mount it. Further, it was alleged Senior Sergeant Hurley had punched the Palm Islander three times and that he lied by denying that he had verbally abused Doomadgee, or that he had fallen on him.

The allegation of collusion by Mr Hine involved Senior Sergeant Hurley, a police detective and an Aboriginal police liaison officer on Palm Island.

But the CMC concluded, after reviewing the Coroner's findings and evidence to the inquest -- the third into Doomadgee's death -- that there was insufficient evidence to support criminal proceedings.

"As relates to Palm Island, there are no outstanding matters relating to Christopher Hurley," a spokeswoman for the agency said last night.

Senior Sergeant Hurley, who remains in the police service, based on the Gold Coast, could not be contacted last night.