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AAP
AAP
Lloyd Jones

Death in custody legal action against police dropped

The family of Kumanjayi White want to know why officers involved in his death have not been charged. (Lloyd Jones/AAP PHOTOS)

The family of a young Aboriginal man who died in custody has agreed to discontinue legal action against police after being told who decided not to prosecute the officers involved.

Kumanjayi White, 24, died in Alice Springs in May 2025 after two plain-clothes police officers held him down in a supermarket, sparking national outrage and rallies calling for an independent investigation.

His family were told in May on the eve of the first anniversary of Mr White's death that no charges would be laid due to there being "no reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution".

Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargrave (file image)
Ned Hargraves says family want to know why officers weren't charged over Kumanjayi White's death. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

Mr White's grandfather, Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, launched legal action in the Supreme Court against the Northern Territory's police commissioner and the force seeking answers over the decision, including who made it.

A hearing was due to be held in Darwin on Thursday, but was vacated after the matter was discontinued by consent, the court said.

"The proceedings came to an end because we got the result we wanted," the family's lawyer George Newhouse told AAP on Thursday.

The NT Police had finally provided the family with the information they had requested, the National Justice Project chief executive said.

Mr Hargraves said the family had been asking for an independent inquiry into this "horrific case" for more than a year, "since the awful day that we lost Kumanjayi".

"I just don't know why we had to get lawyers to go to the Supreme Court just to find out who made the decision not to charge anyone," he said in a statement.

The NT Police emblem on a vehicle (file image)
NT Police has rejected calls for an independent inquiry and refused to release CCTV footage. (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS)

The family was entitled to know the reasons behind the decision, what charges were considered and why they were ruled out, Mr Hargraves said.

"Our lawyers are continuing to investigate whether the decision of the NT Police can be challenged in the courts but we can't say any more than that right now."

NT Police has rejected calls for an independent inquiry and refused to stand the officers down or release CCTV footage of the incident, as demanded by Mr White's family.

Mr White, who suffered from cognitive impairment and was in care, died on May 27, 2025 in the Alice Springs supermarket's confectionery aisle.

Police allege he was shoplifting and assaulted a security guard.

An inquest into Mr White's death will be held in Alice Springs in April 2027.

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