The NT Supreme Court has awarded almost $1 million in damages to former Don Dale inmates for tear gassing.

The Northern Territory Supreme Court has ruled in favour of four former inmates of the Don Dale youth detention centre over the unlawful tear gassing incident in 2014. 

The ruling requires the NT Government to pay “exemplary damages” to the plaintiffs, concluding a lengthy legal battle that began when an original trial judge deemed the tear gassing lawful, a decision later upheld by the Court of Appeal and then appealed and overturned by the High Court.

The incident in question occurred at the notorious Darwin youth detention centre in 2014 when Don Dale youth justice officers employed tear gas to “temporarily incapacitate” an inmate named Jake Roper. 

The court found that four other detainees, Josiah Binsaris, Keiran Webster, Ethan Austral, and Leroy O'Shea, were also exposed to the gas, assaulted, handcuffed, and hosed down on a basketball court to remove gas residue.

NT Supreme Court Justice Jenny Blokland, in her determination, assigned damages as follows: $250,000 to Mr O'Shea, $220,000 to Mr Binsaris, $250,000 to Mr Webster, and $240,000 to Mr Austral. 

She stated that these awards “will be appropriate for the amount of time the plaintiffs were subject to mistreatment constituting battery and its associated distress, physical and psychological”.

Justice Blokland said that the responsibility for the unlawful use of force rested with the NT government, which should not have allowed tear gas to be used as an option for guards at Don Dale. 

She said “young people in custody must be protected from exposure to such danger”, and underlined that the Northern Territory accepts vicarious responsibility for the officers' actions.

The court held that the plaintiffs, who were mostly bystanders, were treated with "callous" disregard for their rights. 

Justice Blokland stressed that the NT government must take responsibility for creating conditions that led to the unlawful use of excessive force.

The NT government has three weeks to pay the damages to the plaintiffs. 

In response to the ruling, NT Police Minister Kate Worden acknowledged “significant improvements” in youth detention facilities since the 2014 incident.