Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service --- "The Ti Tree Incident" [1981] AboriginalLawB 13; (1981) 1(1) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 9

• The Ti Tree Incident

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The Ti Tree Incident

Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service

The sounds of the shots fired from a revolver on the road to Ti Tree Cattle Station are still reverberating through the legal system of the Northern Territory.

A confrontation between a two man police patrol and eight Aborigines resulted in one Aborigine dying in agony near the roadside and another fighting for his life in an intensive care ward.

The hand that held the lethal weapon was that of Constable Jack Clifford who claimed that he fired whilst in fear of his life after being punched, kicked and struck on the head by a blunt object.

The Aborigines claimed that Clifford had acted like a thug, assaulting three of them after the greeting: 'I've got you, you black bastards!'

Perhaps inevitably it was five of the Aborigines who were charged. Initially the major offence was wounding with intent to prevent lawful detainer which carries life imprisonment. By the time of the trial (shifted to Darwin by judicial order because of the potential prejudice created by the inaccurate and inflamatory publicity of the Territory press) the charges relating-to Constable Clifford had been reduced to assaulting a police officer in the due execution of his duty and common assault.

In summing up after a three week Supreme Court trial Justice Gallop told the jury that they may feel there was some substance in the defence contention that it was Clifford who was the catalyst for the whole incident. The jury acquitted all the defendants of all charges relating to Constable Clifford.

An Inquest into the death of Johnny Boy Ross Jabanardi (delayed almost 12 months) is now in progress and the Coroner must determine whether Constable Clifford should himself stand trial for his role in this tragic episode.