Australia - Man set alight after being hit with Taser

**dirtydog** · 21-07-2009, 02:37 AM

Man set alight after being hit with Taser

AN Aboriginal man from a remote western desert community was last night being airlifted to a Perth hospital after he was shot by police with a Taser gun and engulfed in flames.

The incident happened about midday yesterday at the West Australian community of Warburton after police went to a house where Ronald Mitchell and others were sniffing petrol.

Last night a crew from the Royal Flying Doctor Service airlifted Mr Mitchell to a Perth hospital to be treated for burns to 20 per cent of his body.

It is unclear exactly how the 36-year-old was set alight but family members told The Australian last night that his body burst into flames after the Taser hit him on the bridge of his nose.

His sister, Morinda West, said Mr Mitchell was sniffing petrol in his mother's house when police banged on the door and asked him to come out. Ms West said her brother, who was released from prison two months ago, was scared he was going to be arrested. He refused.

He eventually decided to leave and went to the front of the house with a lighter and a two-litre orange juice container full of petrol, she said.

"He must have put petrol on his face, then the policeman shot him with the Taser, that's when the flames happened," she said.

Ms West said there were two police officers present, a male and a female. She said the male officer fired the Taser and the female officer rushed into the house and asked Ms West to get water to douse the flames.

Mr Mitchell's stepfather, Stuart, said Mr Mitchell had burns to his face, arms and chest.

A police spokeswoman said last night that a male police officer fired the Taser when Mr Mitchell ran at police with the petrol container and refused to stop when asked.

She said Mr Mitchell then caught alight and the police officer immediately went to his aid, smothering the flames with his arms.

She said at the same time the male officer was hit in the head with rocks thrown by an 18-year-old woman.

Queensland has halted the rollout of Tasers to general-duty police after the death of a man last month who had been stunned 28 times.

NSW will introduce Tasers to general-duty police this month, while Western Australia already issues them to general-duty police.

Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the ACT have restricted the weapons to specialist tactical response squads.

The Australian reported on July 13 that Victoria's Office of Police Integrity had recommended that as the state's force had failed to tackle the shoot-to-kill culture that made it the nation's most deadly force, its officers should not be trusted with Tasers.

Man set alight after being hit with Taser | The Australian

**gjbkk** · 21-07-2009, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by dirtydog

"He must have put petrol on his face, then the policeman shot him with the Taser, that's when the flames happened," she said.

more likely he had a skinful of bundaberg

**MeMock** · 21-07-2009, 07:17 PM

Originally Posted by dirtydog

community of Warburton

Title: Midnight Oil - Stars of Warburton lyrics

Artist: Midnight Oil

I
I was
I was shaken down in a toy town
He
He's out there
You know it's Kennedy's shadow
From White Cross to Michigan
ATMs in the air
Oh yeah machines they are spinning out everywhere

The speaker is speaking
Can you hear the sound
The listener is listening as he hits the ground
The medium or the message but there's no-one around

I couldn't believe the stars of Warburton
Were waiting for me

We were dancing
We were dancing on the plain
Were looking through the window
Didn't see any buffalo there
We got our pipe dreams

They went up in smoke dreams
Burn it clean in the climate control
Of your hypermart malls
Don't want to talk about Elvis Presley
Don't want to see his white shoes walkin' around and
Around and around and around over here
The press baron's acting up the mainframes are down
The newspapers crawling around on the ground
The medium or the message
Still there's no-one around

I couldn't believe the stars of Warburton
Were waiting for me

Over the hills and mountains we go
So far so far away
For the ring of the axe on the ironbark
For the smell of the wallaby stew
From the golden reefs to the sandstone cliffs
Came the sheep pens of the mallee plain
The wind blew the soil to the Orient
We'll be shouting to the skies again

I couldn't believe the stars of Warburton
Were waiting for me

I couldn't believe the stars of Warburton
Were living in me, raining down on me

I couldn't believe the stars of Warburton
Were washing down on me

**Frankenstein** · 21-07-2009, 07:58 PM

^Ah, I see the connection now - he was obviously drenched in Midnight OIL.

**plorf** · 21-07-2009, 09:27 PM

Sniffing petrol.. the savage.. a real Moscovite connaisseur would teach him to appreciate only the finest glue.

**rickda** · 21-07-2009, 11:02 PM

UK papers report he had been drinking petrol surely these days beer or whisky is cheaper!!!

**SiLeakHunt** · 22-07-2009, 03:29 AM

Originally Posted by plorf

Sniffing petrol.. the savage.. a real Moscovite connaisseur would teach him to appreciate only the finest glue.

Lighter gas was always the tipple of the upper crust in my day.

cheers

**Johnny Longprong** · 22-07-2009, 06:58 AM

Originally Posted by MeMock

Artist: Midnight Oil

Whose lead singer Peter Garrett, the once rabid anti nuclear campaigner, is now remarkably an Australian Senator and Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. He just approved another Uranium mine and justified it by saying he didn't oppose it because the party was in favour.

**Panda** · 22-07-2009, 07:34 AM

Petrol sniffing is a big problem in remote Aboriginal communities. Some kids start as young as 7 or 8. By the time they are in their early teens its dope and petrol, then they move onto dope and grog as they get older. Eats away at their brains and screws up so many lives. Quite a few of them end up in jail by the time they are 20. Some just end up dead, usually from suicide, or in a psych unit. Most often the parents of these kids are irresponsible alcoholics themselves, so the problem just keeps growing with each new generation. Very sad indeed. Wasted lives.

**sabang** · 22-07-2009, 10:01 AM

That'll teach him.

**Mr R Sole** · 22-07-2009, 10:24 AM

I did a funny post yesterday on this right under..GJBKK's post and it's disappeared??????!!!!!!!! getting boring this.

**Up2U** · 22-07-2009, 02:03 PM

The guy was shot on the bridge of his nose with a taser?

Was this the type that shoots out two prongs carrying the current, or the up-close-and-personal that sparks across contacts on the hand-set?

If the former (which is the normal law-enforcement issue) then the copper needs lessons - you shoot at his chest or back (large body-mass) not at his eyes (where you can be jailed for blinding him).

Tasers are a very effective instrument for control, when used by trained professionals. This officer obviously is not.

**plorf** · 22-07-2009, 04:30 PM

Are there any normal, functioning Aboriginees, integrated into mainstream society in Australia ? Excuse my ignorance, haven't read too much about the topic, just know that many live in camps without education, lots of alcoholicm and crime.

**MeMock** · 22-07-2009, 04:39 PM

Of course there are Plorf, I personally know many of them.

**Panda** · 22-07-2009, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by plorf

Are there any normal, functioning Aboriginees, integrated into mainstream society in Australia ? Excuse my ignorance, haven't read too much about the topic, just know that many live in camps without education, lots of alcoholicm and crime.

There are lots. But those are not the ones who make the news.

You got to remember that in the more remote areas, many of the people are only a few generations away from a hunter gatherer, communal culture/lifestyle. In the 1800s and early 1900s they were rounded up and put into permanent settlements run by Christian missionaries. Many of these places exist as Aboriginal communities today. But generally, there is little employment opportunities in these out of the way places. Many of these places have become isolated ghettos of displaced people stuck between the old culture and the new.

**plorf** · 22-07-2009, 05:08 PM

Ah, thanks for the info gents.

**jandajoy** · 22-07-2009, 05:16 PM

Originally Posted by MeMock

Of course there are Plorf, I personally know many of them.

Well said, alll off it.

Me too.

I know many.

I was in Gumbalanya (aka Oenpelli) today and met some fantastic people.

**Another Farang** · 22-07-2009, 06:59 PM

Trigger-happy meathead cops.

Its part of the phenomenon that seems to be visible iin many parts of the US.
As soon as they issue the zappers, they can't wait to try the things out. All of a sudden its like they are allowed to "shoot" people, but without really killing them. I've heard stories of cops tazing children.

Better stick to clubs.

**MeMock** · 22-07-2009, 07:02 PM

Another Farang, how the HELL do you know what actually happened?

I mean seriously, did you witness it? No of course you didn't so don't go offering judgement on something you have no clue about.

**Lily** · 22-07-2009, 08:59 PM

Originally Posted by plorf

Are there any normal, functioning Aboriginees, integrated into mainstream society in Australia

Yes, there are. A girl that I went to school with, who was in a quite desperate situation as a child, has twin daughters, one of whom is a GP, the other an obstetrician and a son who was the first aboriginal surgeon in Australia.

The mother of these people had a very, very hard life.

**crippen** · 22-07-2009, 10:07 PM

Originally Posted by Another Farang

Trigger-happy meathead cops.

Its part of the phenomenon that seems to be visible iin many parts of the US.
As soon as they issue the zappers, they can't wait to try the things out. All of a sudden its like they are allowed to "shoot" people, but without really killing them. I've heard stories of cops tazing children

They have even tazered sheep in the U.K. Well Wales anyway. Trigger happy welsh cops tazer sheep.

DaffyDuck · 23-07-2009, 01:45 AM

Aussie, eh? Future tourist representative to Thailand, I gather?

**Ningi** · 23-07-2009, 01:52 AM

Originally Posted by plorf

Are there any normal, functioning Aboriginees, integrated into mainstream society in Australia ? Excuse my ignorance, haven't read too much about the topic, just know that many live in camps without education, lots of alcoholicm and crime.

My next door neighbours are Piningi aborigines,7 kids but great neighbours , hardworking, clean, dont get on the grog, its a pity about the ones in the territories, australian govt is hoping that they will wipe them selves out,helped by the odd redneck copper who accidently beats an aboriginal to death now and then

**Mr R Sole** · 23-07-2009, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by Johnny Longprong

Whose lead singer Peter Garrett, the once rabid anti nuclear campaigner, is now remarkably an Australian Senator and Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. He just approved another Uranium mine and justified it by saying he didn't oppose it because the party was in favour.

Ah you see joining a party can really feck you up, especially when it comes to trying to stick to your principles...party whips suck..there is no democracy...the boss says this...so do it...BE A ROGUE MP...then get marginalised and tossed no bones....on the other hand...Peter Garrett has just become..

to his fans and a bleeding

politics sucks the sweat from a dead mans balls....plenty of opportunity here in the LOthe dead!!!

**Mr R Sole** · 23-07-2009, 10:57 AM

I play didge, also think that we have a lot to learn from indiginous peoples around the world...especially at this time with global warming an all that jazz!!

they seem to live cleaner and better lives..there are exceptions of course...

cook them up!!!

yes Irian jaya...they love to have you for dinner!!

taste like chicken apparently..least that's what they said!!

I knew KFC tasted funny!!!!

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