Inquest still pending a year after Perth tragedy

Family are still waiting for answers a year after two Aboriginal teenagers died in Perth’s Swan River.

swan river drowning

Family and friends gather at a last year's memorial service for the two boys. Source: AAP

The Perth Aboriginal community is still reeling one year on from the tragic death of two teenagers in the Swan River and waiting for the commencement of an official inquest.

Trisjack Simpson and Chris Drage drowned in the Perth river after the police chased a group of boys following an alleged home invasion in the inner-city suburb of Maylands.

The group were chased to the banks of the Swan River, where many of them jumped into the water.

The Western Australia Police Commissioner has labelled the deaths of the pair as a "death in police presence", despite the circumstances of the tragedy meeting the criteria of a death in custody as defined by both the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the First Nation’s Death in Custody Watch Committee.

An official coronial inquest is still pending.

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By Rangi Hirini
Source: NITV News


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