They are also seeking a formal apology from Victoria Police and V/Line, akin to that delivered by Ambulance Victoria

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Tanya Day’s family have called for a criminal investigation into the police responsible for her care and have requested a formal apology from them and V/Line for their role in her death.

Speaking outside the South Melbourne coroners court at the end of a three-week inquest into the 55-year-old Yorta Yorta woman’s death in custody, Belinda, Warren, and Apryl Day said it was “deeply offensive” that police had repeatedly said there had been no policy or procedural changes as a result of their mother’s death.

They are seeking an investigation into what they say amounts to criminal negligence.

They said a police witness did give a personal apology to the family, when prompted by their lawyer, but they wanted a formal apology akin to that delivered by Ambulance Victoria, which they singled out for its “honest evidence”.

Tanya Day inquest: Ambulance Victoria apologises for 'disrespectful care' Read more

The trio received a standing ovation after giving evidence in court. They described their mother’s cheeky sense of humour and “smile [that] would brighten a room”.

They said it was particularly sad explaining her death to their children, who had seen CCTV footage of Day in the police cells, which had been shared on social media.

“We see the support that we’ve had and that’s because of who mum was, and her work and her values,” Apryl Day said. “Mum has touched so many people and that’s why people are here today.”

Play Video 4:52 CCTV shows Tanya Day falling multiple times in police cell – video

Day died on 22 December 2017, of a traumatic brain injury sustained when she fell in the police cells on 5 December.

The inquest heard that she had been arrested for public drunkenness and left in the cells for four hours to “sober up”, that police had not followed their own guidelines on conducting welfare checks, and that they had not noticed her injury until more than three hours after the fall.

Earlier, family members walked out of the court when a senior police officer tried to explain attempts by the police to reduce the over-incarceration of Indigenous people.

Superintendent Sussan Thomas was nominated by Victoria Police to give evidence about policies and procedures as they related to Day’s death, but said she was unable to comment in detail on custodial procedures, cultural awareness training, the management of the Aboriginal Community Justice Partnerships or any responses or reviews following Day’s death because she was “not a subject expert”.

'Objective truth': what the Tanya Day footage shows minute by minute Read more

She said she thought she had been asked to come to the inquest “to talk about all the good work that is occurring across Victoria Police and the policies as well”.

The coroner Caitlin English eventually cut Thomas’s evidence short, saying she had asked the chief commissioner of police to provide a witness to talk about issues including police training and “unfortunately, she’s not able to cover quite a lot of the territory that I was hoping for”.

Asked by Peter Morrissey SC, counsel for the Day family, if she knew she would face questions about cultural awareness training, Thomas said: “I knew that I was coming here to say that the training exists but I’m not a subject matter expert on the training.”

Thomas said she was told two days ago that she would be giving evidence, despite the Day family making a formal request for a statement concerning police policies and training since the first directions hearing in December.

Morrissey said Thomas had been nominated by the chief commissioner of police to give evidence “specifically because she doesn’t know”.

He invited Thomas to make an apology to the family on behalf of Victoria Police.

“Personally I am very sorry for the family,” Thomas said. “We definitely are sorry for your loss and sorry for the pain and personally it impacts on me, I want you to know that.”

English closed the inquest after thanking the family for their “dedicated participation,” and praised the “strong family and strong community”.