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After less than a week in police custody, Sony was rendered a quadriplegic
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Six days after being taken into police custody, Aboriginal man Sony Ray Austin’s spinal cord was severed and he was rendered a quadriplegic.
Sony’s story, uncovered in documents made public for the first time, detail a rarely reported aspect of incarceration: when Aboriginal people are disabled in the course of their confinement.
Sony Ray Austin, prior to his injury while in police custody.
In 2018, the 26-year-old’s mental state had deteriorated after he was picked up by police over a family violence matter in Bendigo on February 16. Three days later, Sony was transferred to a holding cell beneath the Melbourne Magistrates Court in the CBD as he awaited a magistrate. ....

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