(Photo: YouTube)
December 2, 2020
A six-part ABC podcast, prepared by Walkley Award-winning investigative journalist Allan Clarke, is exploring the events surrounding the tragic death in custody of Wakka Wakka dancer Daniel Yock in November 1993.
Daniel – known as “Boonie” to his friends – collapsed after he and a mate were arrested in Brisbane’s Musgrave Park.
His condition when he was put in the back of a police van is disputed but he was “limp” when the van arrived at the Brisbane Watchhouse.
Despite attempts to revive him, Daniel was pronounced dead a short time afterwards.
The Coroner found the former Cherbourg resident, who was also an amateur boxer, died from an undiagnosed heart condition – an assessment many disputed at the time.
But there is no doubt that Daniel’s death at the age of 18 shocked his family and friends and sparked a loud protest outside Roma Street police headquarters the following day.
A week later a community march paraded through Brisbane streets in silence from Musgrave Park to the Roma Street Parklands – one of the largest protest marches seen in Brisbane for many years.
The death was also commemorated by singer-songwriter Kev Carmody in his song “The Young Dancer Is Dead” and in the late Angus Rabbitt’s “Dancing Aborigine”.
Daniel’s death still jars many at Cherbourg and is often raised with southburnett.com.au during conversations, which is why we believe providing a link to Allan Clarke’s podcast is important.
- External link: Thin Black Line (ABC podcast)
