Protest calls for justice as JC inquest reveals breach of police use of force policy

Joseph Guenzler
Joseph Guenzler Published July 4, 2024 at 5.00pm (AWST)

Evidence at the inquest into JC's death continued on Wednesday, as family, friends, and supporters staged a protest march through Geraldton CBD, demanding justice for the 29-year-old Yamatji woman.

State Coroner Ros Fogliani is investigating the police's actions, policies, procedures, and training methods in relation to JC's death on September 17, 2019.

Eight officers responded to the scene, confronting JC, who was holding a pair of scissors and a 30cm knife.

Const. Brent Wyndham shot JC 16 seconds after leaving his vehicle.

A November 2021 internal review found that Const. Wyndham violated the WA Police Use of Force policy when he shot JC. These findings were disclosed during the inquest, and the officers present at the scene had not been informed of these conclusions.

The Coroner's Court was informed of four findings from the internal investigation.

Const. Dillon McLean, the least experienced officer on the scene, testified that he had not received any feedback from WA Police following the investigation, which could have helped him reflect on his actions the night JC died.

The court heard that Const. McLean and Sen. Const. Bryan Bird had spoken with JC's family before attending the scene.

They visited the Joel Ct home after JC's family reported she had threatened to kill herself and left the house armed.

While Sen. Const. Bird was speaking with a family member, a radio call reported a person armed with a knife on Assen St.

A woman submitted a statement claiming that Const. Bird tapped his gun twice and said, "that's why we got these for" after receiving the radio call.

Sen. Const. Bird denied this, stating he tapped his gun to reassure the family and said, "don't worry, we will protect you."

He said that it was a comfortable position to rest his hands on his belt.

Const. McLean did not radio information about JC's mental health after visiting her home.

When asked if it would have been helpful to inform Const. Wyndham that he was approaching with a taser pointed, McLean said he did when he commanded JC to "drop the knife or she would be tasered."

He clarified that communicating this directly to Wyndham was not typical practice.

On Tuesday, First Class Officer Antony Caracatsanis, who arrived in the second police car, testified.

He was driving with Sen. Const. Adrian Barker, who exited the vehicle as it stopped.

Const. Caracatsanis noted there was no time to communicate with officers at the scene or radio others arriving due to the single police radio channel limiting communication.

"There just wasn't time to do anything differently from my perspective," Const. Caracatsanis said.

He recounted the commands officers yelled at JC, including using her name with an expletive.

Sen. Const. Barker, no longer with the police, was scheduled to testify Wednesday afternoon, followed by Const. Wyndham on Thursday.

Sen. Const. Kenneth Walker previously stated the situation might have been different if Barker had not stood so close to JC.

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National Indigenous Times

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