Charges are expected to be laid as soon as today against the man accused of murdering a five-year-old girl in Alice Springs, following his late night arrest and the “absolute anarchy” that followed.
Northern Territory Police Commissioner Martin Dole has called for calm across the red centre, shutting down calls for traditional payback on murder suspect 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis, saying there is “one law” in Australia.
“That one law applies to everybody, including the people that were involved in the violence last night,” he said.
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“Mr Lewis is in police custody. There will be a prosecution commenced and the court case will proceed.
“So I’m telling the community that that’s what’s going to occur and that’s what needs to be accepted by the community.”
Commissioner Dole confirmed Mr Lewis suffered a “sustained attack” and was unconscious when police arrived to arrest him at a town camp late on Thursday night.
“My briefing is that he presented himself to one of the town camps in Alice Springs last night,” he said on Friday morning.
“As a result of presenting himself, members of that town camp decided to inflict vigilante justice upon Jefferson and we received numerous phone calls saying he was in the process of being assaulted.
“We responded very quickly and we stopped that from continuing.”
Commissioner Dole said Mr Lewis had suffered “quite a severe beating”, including significant head injuries, and was unconscious.
Police and paramedics were also assaulted when they arrived to treat and arrest Mr Lewis.
“We conveyed Mr Lewis to the Alice Springs hospital, and shortly after, a large crowd gathered and tried to gain access to that hospital and access to Mr Lewis,” he said.
Jefferson Lewis was arrested on Thursday night in Alice Springs. Credit: Supplied Source Known
“Police responded and we called out all the resources we had available to quell that violence disturbance.”
Commissioner Dole said Mr Lewis was “subjected to a sustained attack”.
“He did receive treatment at the Alice Springs Hospital,” he said.
“At the time of his apprehension by us, he was unconscious and he was in the process of being treated by St John’s Ambulance when they were set upon, as were the police.
“He’s been given a fit for custody … so his injuries aren’t significant enough to keep him in hospital.”
Mr Lewis was evacuated from Alice Springs and flown to Darwin at about 3.30am.
“He was removed last night for safety concerns — safety concerns for himself and emergency services workers,” the police boss said.
“We’ll have to do those assessments later. He’s now in police custody and I don’t envisage that he’s going to be out anytime soon.”
This comes as hundreds of people rioted outside Alice Springs Hospital where the accused was being treated, in scenes Commissioner Dole has described as “absolute anarchy”.
“Large crowds gathered at the hospital, up to about 400 people, and attempted to gain entry to get to Mr Lewis,” Commissioner Dole said.
“It really descended into absolute anarchy.”
Commissioner Dole said the violence against emergency services was “unacceptable”.
“My thoughts are with the police officers, the ambulance officers, and the fire and rescue officers that were injured last night in the unacceptable behavior that we saw carried out at the Alice Springs hospital,” he said.
“And just let me say that the behavior that we saw last night cannot be explained away, excused or accepted.
“There is absolutely no excuse for violence against emergency services that are just doing their job.”
Police say officers initially formed a line to block access to the hospital as tensions escalated, but the crowd quickly turned violent, hurling rocks, bricks and other projectiles.
Officers were forced to take cover behind their vehicles as windows were smashed and cars repeatedly kicked and damaged.
Witnesses said men in the crowd were demanding Lewis be handed over to face community justice.
Police vehicles were set alight and jumped on during the chaos, while four of the town’s five ambulance vehicles were damaged – an incident expected to significantly impact emergency services.
The unrest lasted for several hours, with police deploying tear gas and firing rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of about 400 people.
The Territory’s top cop said there would be consequences for the violence that erupted last night.
“So for those people involved, you will face the law just as Jefferson Lewis is facing the law, and your behavior will not be accepted by us,” he said.
“I just call for calm across the community today.
“I’d just like to thank the community for the support that we’ve seen so far and call on strong leadership to quell that behaviour today, and hopefully we won’t see any more of it continuing.”
Riots broke out at the hospital after the arrest of Jefferson Lewis. Gera Kazakov Credit: News Corp Australia
Commissioner Dole said the violence was unacceptable but reflected the depth of grief within the community.
“I understand there’s a lot of anger and there’s a lot of grief, but what we saw last night is just not acceptable,” he said.
“The law must apply equally to everybody … we don’t get to choose who we protect.”
He said the unrest stood in stark contrast to the unity shown by the community in the days prior.
“We’ve seen a community come together, stand shoulder to shoulder, do line searches, searching for Kumanjayi Little Baby,” he said.
“To see what that descended into last night … is extremely disappointing.”
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said “all of our worst nightmares had come true” when police discovered the body of Kumanjayi Little Baby just before noon but “attacks on frontline workers are never acceptable”.
Five-year-old Kuminjai Little Baby was allegedly abducted and murdered in Alice Springs, with Jefferson Lewis taken into custody as the accused.
“Late last night, police were able to arrest the suspect, which was incredibly relieving news for every single Territorian, and of course, the family,” she said.
“And then what happened last night is we saw rioting behaviour that required enormous police response and resources and as a result of that behaviour, we saw police, fireys and ambulances attacked.
“Whilst we appreciate and understand that people are very angry and grieving, there is never an excuse or an acceptability of violence as a response”.
Mrs Finocchiaro said police and emergency services have an important job to do.
“We are very hopeful that that was an isolated incident and should not define what has been an incredible community effort this week,” she said.
“I don’t want last night to take away from that extraordinary effort that we have seen.
“And now, of course, the very important police work continues and we have to let our police do that work.”
Mrs Finocchiaro said that as a response to last night’s riots, there will be no takeaway alcohol available in Alice Springs on Friday.
“It’s very, very important and will bring important reprieve to the community and our frontline workers,” she said.
“Tomorrow, there will be limited takeaway between 11am and 2pm.
“Sunday is already highly restricted and Monday and Tuesday are already grog-free days.”
