Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre killing: Homicide detectives charge 29-year-old man with murder

Police have charged a 29-year-old man over the murder of a Turkish man in a violent attack inside the Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre.

Gokhan Kan, 32, was allegedly stabbed with a makeshift knife after violence erupted inside the Hawk compound over an outstanding drug debt on June 15.

Eight days later, police have announced homicide squad detectives had charged a man with murder. He is due to appear in Perth Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The West Australian was told at the time violence erupted inside the detention centre over what was believed to be a drug debt.

Two people were taken into custody in the immediate aftermath, however only the one man has been charged to date.

It is understood Mr Kan came to Australia at the age of three and served time in a Melbourne jail before being sent to the Northam detention centre after his sentence, where he had spent the past three years.

It is understood he had signed to return to Turkey about a year ago.

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said Mr Kan’s death was a “tragedy and remains traumatic for everyone who was involved, including the people who are still in detention”.

“There’s no sanctification hearing that someone has been charged with his murder,” he said.

“The truth is regardless of any outcome of a trial, Gokhan or anyone who is subsequently charged, are all victims of the detention system and they should never have been in detention.

If Gokhan hadn’t been in detention, then none of his would have happened. So while there might be a trial for Gokhan’s murder, the real trial that is still to come is the trial of the detention system itself.”

A witness to the alleged incident told The West he watched on as Mr Kan “gasped his last breath” and said there was “blood everywhere” after he was stabbed in the neck in his room.

He claimed several people were screaming around Mr Kan’s lifeless body, pleading with guards at the detention centre to call for an ambulance.

Mr Kan was taken to Northam Regional Hospital but could not be saved.

The WA Police riot squad also responded to the incident, with a fire breaking out.

“I ran out of my room at 11.15pm after I hear a fight break out,” a witness said.

“Once out there I saw a man on the floor … blood was everywhere and people were around him.

“He died right in front of my eyes just 2m away from me.”

Another detainee, who said he was friends with Mr Kan, said inside Yongah Hill was “very bad”. “So scary, you know. Everyone has a knife. There’s no safety here, there’s nothing.”

He said he also witnessed Mr Kan’s neck being slashed before he fell to the ground.

“He was looking at us (and) we tell him please don’t die. Please don’t die,” he said.

In dramatic footage from inside the centre, paramedics were seen frantically giving CPR to the man on the ground before he is taken on a stretcher to an ambulance waiting outside.

At the time, the Australian Border Force said it expressed its condolences to Mr Kan’s family and friends.

“The ABF’s priority is the health and safety of all detainees and staff,” it said.

“The matter has been referred for investigation to the appropriate agencies.

“As this matter will be subject to ongoing investigation, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”