WA coroner says police failed to monitor breathing of Aboriginal woman pinned to the ground

Noongar Yamatji woman Cherdeena Wynne died in hospital five days after she was pinned in a prone position by police officers in Perth in 2019. Photograph: Supplied by family

A Western Australian coroner has criticised police offices for their “woefully inadequate” monitoring of an Aboriginal woman’s breathing after she was pinned to the ground and lost consciousness before being allowed to sit up.

Cherdeena Wynne, a 26-year-old Noongar Yamatji woman, died in hospital five days after she was pinned in a prone position by police officers, one of whom had his knee on her shoulder blades and leg across her upper back for almost two minutes.