The man taken into custody for the murder of an Aboriginal girl has been moved to Darwin in an early morning police operation.
Following a huge riot outside the Alice Springs Hospital overnight, Jefferson Lewis, accused of murdering the five-year-old girl, now refferred to as Kumanjayi Little Baby, was flown out under the cover of darkness, NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole confirmed while speaking on the ABC Breakfast Program.
The Police aircraft based in Alice Springs was used to fly Lewis to Darwin, arriving there around 6.30 this morning.
Comm. Dole said he was taken there for his own safety.
He also confirmed when Lewis was found by police in the Charles Creek Town Camp, he was unconscious after being beaten by a mob of vigilantes.
At the height of the riot, as many as 400 people were outside the hospital, pelting police and other emergency services personnel with rocks and other projectiles.
Comm. Dole also said two police officers, two ambulance officers and one NT Fire and Rescue Service member were injured in the riot.
The extent of their injuries are unknown at this stage.
At least one police car was torched and several others damaged, incliding one with a smashed windscreen during what is being described by some quarters as the biggest civil unrest in the history of Alice Springs.
Reports suggest that there were also up to five ambulances damaged rendering them inoperable.
“What occurred overnight is not acceptable, Commisioner Dole said when speaking to ABC Breakfast this morning.
“”It’s not reflective of what we’ve seen from the community over the last five days,” he said.
