Key facts
- The family of Kumanjayi White, an Indigenous man who died in police custody, has initiated legal action.
- Legal action seeks to uncover the reasons behind the decision not to charge the police officers involved.
- Kumanjayi White died on May 27, 2025, after being restrained by officers in an Alice Springs supermarket.
- Authorities stated there were no reasonable prospects for a successful prosecution.
- The family alleges a lack of transparency and demands a genuinely independent investigation.
The family of Kumanjayi White, a 24-year-old Aboriginal man who died on May 27, 2025, after being restrained by police in an Alice Springs supermarket, has launched legal action. This follows the decision by the Northern Territory director of public prosecutions not to lay charges against the officers involved, citing a lack of reasonable prospects for a successful prosecution.
The family confirmed on Monday they had initiated proceedings in the NT Supreme Court, seeking to understand the reasons behind the decision and identify who made it. Their lawyer, George Newhouse, stated that under the Northern Territory Victims of Crime Charter, they are entitled to know the reasons and potentially seek a reconsideration of the case.
White, who suffered from cognitive impairment and was in care, died in the Coles supermarket after two plainclothes officers restrained him. Police allege he was shoplifting and assaulted a security guard, claims his family denies. White's grandfather, Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, expressed a lack of trust in the process, citing a lack of transparency and anonymity of the decision-maker.
Previously, NT police rejected calls for an independent inquiry and refused to stand down the officers or release CCTV footage of the incident. The family is pursuing court orders to identify the decision-maker and the basis for their decision, with the intention to challenge it if warranted. An inquest into White's death is scheduled for April 2027 in Alice Springs.