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Kerry John WEEKES

Kerry John WEEKES

New South Wales Police Force

Redfern Police Academy Class # 116

Regd. #  13419

 

Rank: Probationary Constable – appointed 16 September 1968

Constable – appointed ? ? ?

Constable 1st Class – appointed 16 September 1973

Senior Constable – appointed 16 September 1977

Sergeant 3rd Class – appointed 8 September 1984

Sergeant 3rd Class ( Traffic Sergeant )

 

Stations?, 21 Division, Petersham ( 1975 ), 8 Division ( late 1970’s ), Balmain, Leichhardt, Fairfield ( 34 Division ) – Death

 

Service:   From pre September 1968 ? to  17 April 1987 = 19+ years Service

 

Awards: National Medal – granted 19 November 1984 ( SenCon )

 

Born: Tuesday  21 December 1948

Age:  38 yrs  3 mths  27 days

Died on :  Friday  17 April 1987 ( Good Friday )

Cause:  Suicide via Service Pistol .38 Smith & Wesson revolver

Event location:  Traffic Office, 2nd floor, west building of old Fairfield Police Stn, Smart St, Fairfield ( 34 Division )

 

Funeral date: ?

Funeral location: Orange, NSW

Buried at: Orange General Cemetery, Lone Pine Ave, Orange, NSW.

Grave: Anglican Lawn, Section D, Plot 5

 

KERRY is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance  * BUT SHOULD BE


 

Sergeant Kerry WEEKES was a Traffic Sergeant at Fairfield Police Station when, in 1987, he shot himself with his service revolver whilst inside the Traffic Office of that building.

Fairfield Police Station, at that time, comprised to two buildings on either side of the driveway which passed between the two buildings.

The Traffic Office was on the second floor on the western side of the driveway and was at the rear of that building overlooking the rear car park.

This original version of the Fairfield Police Station was demolished and later replaced with the current station we see upon Smart St, Fairfield, today.

No other information is available at this time ( 2014 – 2020 )


 




Kenneth Frederick HENDERSON

Kenneth Frederick HENDERSON

Late of ?

New South Wales Police Force

[alert_yellow]Regd. #   14078[/alert_yellow]

Rank: Probationary Constable – appointed 26 March 1970

Constable 1st Class – appointed 26 March 1975

Sergeant – appointed 20 November 1985

Detective Chief Inspector – Death

Stations: ?, Charlestown – Death

Service: From ? ? pre March 1970? to 25 October 2001 = 31+ years Service

Awards:  National Medal – granted 14 July 1977

1st Clasp to National Medal – granted 2 December 1995

Born:  6 January 1950, Waratah, NSW

Died on: Thursday  25 October 2001

Age:  51

Cause: Suicide – Firearm – Service revolver – within Charlestown Police Station ( in the outside toilets )

Event location:  Charlestown Police Station, 25 Smith St, Charlestown

Event date:  Thursday  25 October 2001

Funeral date:  Wednesday 31 October 2001

Funeral location:  Newcastle Christ Church Cathedral, 52 Church St, Newcastle

Funeral Parlour: ?

Buried at: Buried at Belmont Cemetery, Green St, Belmont

Memorial located at: ?

INSCRIPTION: IN LOVING MEMORY OF KENNETH FREDERICK HENDERSON 6.1.1950 - 25.10.2001 AGED 51 YEARS Beloved husband of Gloria Adored father of Debbie and Kellie Our best friend, our hero who brought love, laughter and happiness to our lives Loved, respected and admired by all whose lives he touched to knhow him was to love him Your are and always will be the love or our lives

Kenneth Frederick HENDERSON

[alert_red]KEN is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_red] * BUT SHOULD BE

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Grave’s approximate location


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FURTHER INFORMATION IS NEEDED ABOUT THIS PERSON, THEIR LIFE, THEIR CAREER AND THEIR DEATH.

PLEASE SEND PHOTOS AND INFORMATION TO Cal

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May they forever Rest In Peace

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Detective Chief Inspector Ken HENDERSON, 51 old, committed suicide by using his service firearm inside the grounds of Charlestown Police Station in October 2001.

Ken was being harassed and ultimately threatened by SCIA during their malicious reign with a personal exposure that would, no doubt, hurt his family. Nothing to do with misconduct on his behalf, just a maliciously attempt to hurt him and his family.

He took his life with his service revolver at the rear toilets of the police station immediately after receiving a phone call from SCIA.

It is believed that no Inquest was held into his suicide.

 

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Three investigated police attempt suicide

By Candace Sutton
March 2 2003
The Sun-Herald

 

Three police officers investigated by the controversial Operation Florida corruption probe have attempted suicide, The Sun-Herald has learnt.

 

This follows the death in 2001 of Detective Chief Inspector Ken Henderson, a highly commended officer regarded as a top criminal investigator. Henderson, 51 and a 30-year veteran of NSW Police, shot himself at work in 2001.

There was no suggestion that he was tainted by corruption.

Three officers who came under the operation’s scope have since tried to end their lives.

Senior police officers named on a controversial warrant issued as part of Operation Florida have engaged prominent barrister Tom Hughes, QC.

The warrant, ordered by former assistant commissioner Mal Brammer, was issued the day before the 2000 Olympics began and had 116 names on it.

 

Those named included a barrister, a journalist and five of Crime Agencies’ nine superintendents. A Police Integrity Commission investigation of the warrant has since found two of the names on it were unsupported by applications or affidavits, which PIC inspector Merv Finlay described as “a minor irregularity”

 

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Why cops took their eye off the streets

March 2 2003

An internal police investigation targeting corruption has claimed victims who weren’t even in its sights, Candace Sutton writes.

 

On a spring day in September 2000, when a rape gang was carrying out its evil in south-western Sydney, police among the highest echelons of the NSW force were intent on issuing a warrant for a listening device to eavesdrop on fellow officers.

It was a peculiar sort of warrant, with 116 names on it.

The names included those of drug dealers, armed robbers, a barrister, a journalist and five of Crime Agencies’ nine superintendents. Two names were unsupported by the affidavits usually needed for such a warrant.

It was the day before the Olympic Games opening ceremony and with the warrant’s issue, Operation Florida was born, one of the NSW Crime Commission and the Police Integrity Commission’s most explosive joint investigations.

The existence of the rape gangs was only beginning to be known by NSW police and the existence of the warrant was a secret to all but a few deep within the police service.

Like its namesake in the US, is there something rotten in the state of Florida?

The destruction the operation has wreaked in its path – the suicide of one police officer and the attempted suicide of three other officers who were subjects of the investigation – is compounded by the fact that one of Florida’s principal investigators and the man whose work instigated the operation are now themselves under a cloud.

Detective Chief Inspector Ken Henderson, 51, died by his own hand on his service revolver at his own police station at Charlestown.

Just what Florida achieved in uncovering corruption – and it did reveal serious breaches among officers in Sydney’s Northern Beaches – must be affected by these events. Mal Brammer has been accused of conducting malicious investigations in another operation.

During his time in charge of Internal Affairs, Mr Brammer was responsible for gathering the initial evidence for what became the Florida inquiry.

Brammer, who had left the police service for the Independent Commission Against Corruption, resigned from that job last week and faces accusations that he used “malicious and unfounded investigations against individuals”.

Brammer‘s right-hand man in Operation Florida, John Dolan, is suspended from the police service and has to show why he should not be dismissed. ( 181D )

This week the good citizens of NSW might wonder whether what is, at best, the super-zealotry of the police watchdogs, has overridden the force’s principal function: to control crime. Has there been an abuse of power? After all, who’s watching the watchers?

Dolan was allegedly caught drink-driving behind the wheel of a State Crimes Commission car at Killarney Vale, near Wyong, while on holiday, on December 28, 2001. He was charged with having a prescribed concentration of alcohol of .075.

The matter went before the court three times, although Dolan never appeared and a doctor’s certificate said the officer was “unfit to work or attend court or to read and complete documents until further notice”.

The matter was then dropped.

The drink-driving charge was incurred at the height of the Florida probe and there must have been a fear it could affect the integrity of the investigation, a joint effort between the police service, the NSW Crime Commission and the Police Integrity Commission which absorbed considerable resources of all the agencies. Dolan, 43, a senior sergeant, is suspended on superintendent’s pay, though as an acting superintendent he had not passed the examinations for that rank.

Dolan has followed Brammer throughout 15 years in the force, from the Drug Enforcement Agency through drug taskforces to Internal Affairs, and on to Florida. Now Florida itself is being investigated.

A brief of evidence on Ken Henderson’s death will be placed before the coroner soon, although there is concern that only local Gosford police investigated, whereas a policeman’s suicide usually warrants a top-level inquiry.

The listening-device warrant is now the subject of planned legal action by commissioned officers whose names were on the list.

The warrant has been explained on 60Minutes by former police commissioner Peter Ryan, who said an Operation Florida operative was to wear the listening device at a function at which the 116 names were to attend.

The police planning legal action over the warrant say all officers were on duty, and therefore attending no common social functions, during the Olympics.

Police Integrity Commission inspector Merv Finlay, who investigated complaints about the warrant, conceded there was a “minor irregularity”, given two names on the warrant were not named in any application or affidavit.

Senior police officers say the force is sick of the approach taken by some PIC investigators.

“The vast majority of police have no sympathy for officers like [corrupt Manly detectives] Matthew Jasper and David Patison, but we do ask investigators to follow the rules,” an officer said.

Several meetings at State Crime Command have moved to address the issue. A unanimous motion at the biannual conference directed the Police Association executive to pursue the matter hotly.

As for the citizens of NSW, those with their names on the warrant list have asked for access to the affidavits supporting the warrant.

Two years after the now-discredited counter-terrorist squad, the Special Branch, was disbanded, Premier Bob Carr trumpeted the fact that he was opening the secret police files to any citizen who had one.

To date, however, access to the affidavits for the Florida warrant has been denied.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/01/1046407802938.html

 

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Mud sticks to the edges of city on the lake

Anne Davies and Andrew Clennell
November 18, 2006

THE latest child sex charges against the former Labor minister Milton Orkopoulos and his campaign worker Pat Roughan have focused attention on Lake Macquarie Council and the effectiveness of local police.

The council has had its fair share of scandals.

In 1996 a former mayor, Doug Carley, was convicted of indecently assaulting a 15-year-old boy. Carley maintains his innocence, saying he did not have the money to contest the offence. He also suffers from bipolar disorder, which colleagues believe was relevant to his case.

In 2002 a former Labor councillor, Chris Foteff, left after gay and bestiality pornography was discovered on his council-supplied computer.

It was found only after the council engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers to follow the porn trail, which led to the recovery of 5000 images deleted from Foteff‘s laptop, including 10 of naked children and about 250 of acts of bestiality.

An earlier police investigation found no images that warranted prosecution. It appears the police decided not to send the computer to Sydney for technical analysis, relying only on what they could retrieve and copy themselves.

An internal police investigation ordered by the then commissioner, Peter Ryan, cleared them of any wrongdoing.

Mr Foteff, who had followed Orkopoulos onto the council as a Labor councillor, has always maintained his innocence and said he was the victim of a set-up.

But reopening the investigation after the PricewaterhouseCoopers report proved difficult because the officer who initially investigated the pornography find, Detective Chief Inspector Ken Henderson, committed suicide in October 2002.

The Mayor of Lake Macquarie, Greg Piper, recalls that police could not prove beyond reasonable doubt that the images on Mr Foteff‘s computer were of “under-age” men and they were also restricted by a statute of limitations.

It was reported at the time that Inspector Henderson shot himself with his service revolver at Charlestown police station soon after receiving a mysterious phone call.

He had recently returned from a trip to Sydney on official police business, believed to be connected to a Police Integrity Commission inquiry. There was no suggestion that Inspector Henderson was under investigation for corrupt conduct but because there was no inquest it remains a mystery.

Cr Piper said he did not believe that those incidents or the charges against Orkopoulos had harmed the council’s reputation, although the incidents were “unfortunate”. “The reality is, they have occurred over a long period of time,” he said, and if people “cast back and clump them together” it made the situation look worse than it was.

However, there had been other complaints about police inaction on child sexual assaults at the Lake Macquarie Local Area Command. In March 2001, Senator Bill Heffernan read a letter from a Charlestown woman into Hansard, detailing her concern about the lack of action taken by police against the abusers of her sons.

That the abuse had occurred was not questioned; her nine-year-old son required surgery after the abuse.

“No charges have ever been laid,” she wrote. “After three years of investigation from the Ombudsman’s office, Mr Bruce Barber [sic], finally intervened and asked for an investigation as to why no interviews and charges have ever been laid in relation to this.”

The mother, who has since moved to Queensland, said Inspector Henderson had been in charge of her son’s case.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/mud-sticks-to-the-edges-of-city-on-the-lake/2006/11/17/1163266787603.html

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DNA On Killer’s Trail

Newcastle Herald

Tuesday July 24, 2001

JASON BARTLETT

RAPID advances in DNA technology could hold the key to catching the killer of Swansea High schoolgirl Bree Jones.

Police have reopened the case more than six years after Bree’s body was carried from the Caves Beach house where she had been dead for hours.

Two Lake Macquarie detectives are again working full-time to solve the mystery that has haunted parents across the region since June 3, 1995.

Bree, 16, a Year 10 student, was found dead in a house at Caves Beach after someone drugged her with methadone to have sex with her.

The case spawned two separate inquests, in which coroner Col Elliott called for perjury charges to be laid against several witnesses, and scrutiny of the State’s methadone program.

Parents shuddered as the story unfolded and they realised what had happened to Bree could as easily happen to their children.

Bree fell in with the wrong crowd, rebelled against her parents, ran away from home and paid the ultimate price.

Her mistake was putting her trust in her new `friends’, people who were apparently willing to stand by as one of their number preyed on the teenager for sex.

Bree Jones died half a kilometre from the Caves Beach home where she had lived happily with her parents, brother and four sisters until a week before the tragedy.

`There were 14 people there when she died but no-one knew what happened,’ her father, Wayne Jones, said.

`They knew of course but no-one would say anything.’

As the facts surrounding Bree’s death emerged, her parents’ anger and the frustration of the investigating officers grew.

Left-handed Bree bore injection marks in her left arm where someone, allegedly a man who wanted sex, had injected her with methadone in the early hours of June 3.

`They were trying to get her out of it so they could have sex with her,’ the mother of one of the people at the party told Mr Elliott.

The dose of methadone killed the teenager.

She slipped into unconsciousness and died.

No-one called the ambulance until 1.47pm that day, hours after Bree’s death.

No-one has come forward with exact details about her last hours.

The sperm, scientific police took from her body revealed she had had sex in the 24 hours before her death.

It may now play a pivotal role in the investigation.

Police were increasingly frustrated by the web of lies spun around the late-night party and what had happened to Bree.

Stories changed constantly, infuriating them and Mr Elliott, who recommended several witnesses be charged with perjury.

`The lies that have been told to police and the perjury committed in court have not helped the investigation,’ he said when handing down his closing statement in Wallsend Coroners Court in March 1999.

The coroner found that Bree had died from a lethal injection of methadone.

He was unable to establish who was responsible.

He did recommend the case be reopened.

`In the circumstances of this case, where a child has been overdosed with a lawful drug to obtain a sexual advantage and has consequently died, the pursuit of any person responsible and any person lying should be relentless,’ Mr Elliott said.

It was one more disappointment for the Jones family, who had watched helplessly after a man charged with manslaughter and supplying drugs to Bree went free in 1997 after the Department of Public Prosecutions dropped the case.

For her family one of the worst things about the case remains that no-one tried to save Bree.

One man, 20 at the time of Bree’s death, told the inquest he had seen her about 6am on June 3, lying in bed with a 29-year-old man.

`She had saliva coming out her mouth and her breathing wasn’t clear,’ the man said.

He did not try to wake her but got his surfboard and left the house.

`I didn’t realise she was in danger of losing her life,’ the 20-year-old said.

The same witness, who admitted lying to police constantly in the three years since Bree’s death, said the party goers had got together the next night for a `conference’ to get their `stories straight’.

Bree remains alive to those who knew her best.

`She was full of fun, loved life, just tried to make everyone happy,’ her mother, Maree, said.

`Her sisters still talk about her all the time.

`There’s not a day goes by when her name’s not mentioned in this household.’

It has been a terrible time for the Jones family.

A few years after Bree’s death, her only brother, Jabe, needed a kidney transplant.

Wayne Jones was happy to help his son.

It is this spirit that has kept the Jones family united in its search for justice.

`Like most 16-year-olds, Bree loved life,’ Mr Jones said.

`She was probably a bit braver than she should have been at that age and got into a situation she couldn’t control.

`She’d been a good kid all her life then hit a stage where she was giving us a bit of trouble.

`Bree got in with the wrong crowd and began to mix with older people that were just a bit too clever for her.

`We are very hopeful the new inquiry will lead to something and that articles like this will jog a conscience and get someone to come forward.’

The investigating officers believe advances in DNA technology, coupled with new legislation passed through State Parliament this year, could mean the unsolved tag being taken off the Bree Jones files.

`The major reason we’ve reopened the case is that it was a recommendation from the coroner,’ Lake Macquarie crime manager Detective Inspector Ken Henderson said.

`But now hopefully we can enact the new DNA legislation and take samples directly from the suspects.

`Before we had to charge the suspect with an actual offence related to the case before we could take samples but now we don’t have to do that.

`The new legislation gives us the light at the end of the tunnel.’

Though hoping the new inquiry, now under way, will lead somewhere, Mr Jones intends to keep searching for his daughter’s killer.

`Time can be your best friend or your worst enemy,’ the 49-year-old said.

`I’m going to live a long life just to get to the end of all this.’

http://www.webconference.com.au/web-conference-articles/2001/7/24/dna-on-killers-trail/

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iii. KEN HENDERSON

Detective Inspector Ken Henderson was attached to Newcastle. In 2001 he took his own life. At the time a number of officers under his control were involved in Police Integrity Commission matters. It was later established that Henderson was not subject to investigation. The family remains at a loss as to why he took his own life. He had not received any treatment nor consulted any medical providers concerning any stress he may have suffered.

http://unionsafe.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/NileInquirySubmission.doc

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Stephen John LEACH

Stephen John LEACH

AKA  Steve

New South Wales Police Force

Joined NSWPF via Police Cadets on 24 November 1966

Redfern Academy Class # 132

Cadet # 2538

Regd. # 15543

 

Rank:  NSW Police Cadet – commenced training at Redfern Police Academy 24 November 1969 ( aged 16 years & 27 days )

Probationary Constable – appointed 28 October 1972 ( aged 19 years )

Constable – appointed

Constable 1st Class – appointed 28 October 1977

Detective – appointed

Senior Constable – appointed

Sergeant 3rd Class – appointed 21 February 1988

Sergeant 2nd Class – appointed

Final Rank:  Detective Sergeant

 

Stations: ?, Homicide Squad – Headquarters – Parramatta

 

ServiceFrom 24 November 1969  to  3 August 2004 = 34 years, 8 months & 10 days Service

 

Awards:  National Medal – granted 14 December 1988 ( Det Sgt )

1st Clasp to the National Medal – granted 28 May 1999 ( Det Sgt )

Commissioner’s Commendation ( posthumously ) ” In recognition of his tenacity, dedication and commitment “

Cause:  Depression – Suicide – Service firearm – In armoury

Event Location:  NSW Police HQ, Parramatta – In the armoury

Event date:  Tuesday  3 August 2004 ( Off Duty )

 

Born: Wednesday  28 October 1953

Died: Tuesday  3 August 2004

Age:  50 years, 9 months & 6 days

 

Funeral? August 2004

Grave stone location: Castlebrook Memorial Park

Location: Stations of the Cross
Section: Cross
Lot: 40
Lat/Long: -33.69279, 150.92183

Steve LEACH

And in August 2004, Detective Sergeant Steve Leach killed himself with his pistol at police headquarters at Parramatta.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/suicidal-officer-with-a-gun-but-this-time-tragedy-averted/2007/04/30/1177788058862.html

 

Stephen John LEACH - grave stone
Stephen John LEACH – grave stone.
Castlebrook Memorial Park Cemetery & Crematorium
Castlebrook Memorial Park, Windsor Rd, Rouse Hill, NSW

 

Steve is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance in Canberra

( checked 040822 )


Policeman shot dead at station

August 3, 2004 – 7:33PM

One of NSW top police investigators was found shot dead in the state’s police headquarters today, shattering his family, friends and colleagues around the world.

Detective Sergeant Steve Leach, 51, an internationally recognised officer who helped investigate former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic on behalf of the United Nations, was found with a single gunshot wound to the head shortly before midday.

Among his local achievements, Det Sgt Leach was instrumental in the arrest of backpacker murderer Ivan Milat and the investigations into missing Sydney school girl Samantha Knight.

NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney rushed to Parramatta upon hearing the news and, while he declined to speculate on the cause of death, said it was not believed to be suspicious.

The detective sergeant was not working today, having returned to NSW from The Hague in the Netherlands only in recent months.

Det Sgt Leach had been on sick leave after sustaining an undisclosed physical injury while overseas, but he had been due to recommence his employment with the NSW Police soon.

The Commissioner said investigations into the death had begun using a specialist team from Bankstown police, who would prepare a report for the Coroner.

“These are very tragic circumstances not only for the officer concerned and his family but equally as important, for his colleagues,” Mr Moroney said.

“I’m sure he will be remembered not only in the coming days . . . but certainly in years to come as one of the most experienced detectives we have (had) here in NSW, and we are the poorer for his loss today.”

Mr Moroney said the married officer had two children who, along with his colleagues, were “understandably very distraught” at the news of his passing.

“He was a very popular colleague and highly respected, not only in terms of his detective skills but certainly the specialist skills that he brought to criminal investigations here in NSW,” he said.

The officer’s colleagues at the NSW State Crime Command in Parramatta were being counselled by police chaplain Barry Dwyer.

Another police officer also was mourned today – Senior Constable Ian Ross Dennis, based in Walgett, north-west NSW, who died in hospital after a short battle with an illness, aged 47.

Mr Moroney paid tribute to both officers, saying they had been outstanding servants of the police force.

“It’s important on these occasions that we honour and acknowledge that service and that commitment,” he said.

“It’s a very sad day for the organisation to lose officers of this calibre who have selflessly served the people of this state to the very best of their skill and ability.

“And that’s all I could ever ask them to do.”

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/03/1091476465269.html?from=storylhs

 


 

Detective who shot himself bore grief of many

By Les Kennedy
August 4, 2004

Homicide Detective Steve Leach, left, and another detective escort the backpacker killer Ivan Milat from his home in 1994. Photo: Rick Stevens
Homicide detective Steve Leach, left, and another detective escort the backpacker killer Ivan Milat from his home in 1994. Photo: Rick Stevens

 

There are few moments of joy in the life of a homicide investigator, and most of those are with their families.

Steve Leach had borne the grief of many, but yesterday it was the turn of his colleagues to face his own violent death.

Detective Senior Sergeant Leach, one of the state’s most experienced homicide detectives, took his life with his own handgun in the heart of the new NSW Police headquarters in Parramatta.

Nobody, it appears, saw such a tragedy coming.

Sergeant Leach had been on sick leave since early June, the result of a car accident in Europe that left him with leg injuries.

He had recently applied to be pensioned off as hurt on duty but those who encountered him recently had found him apparently cheery and looking forward to an early retirement.

He was still on sick report when he walked into the police building yesterday. He went into the soundproof weapons storage room; no one had been expecting him and no one heard the shot. Another officer found his body about noon.

When family, friends and colleagues looked at the life of Steve Leach, they saw an extraordinary career that began when he joined the force as a 16-year-old cadet in 1969.

He was a second-generation cop. Over 35 years, he played a role in some of the state’s most notorious cases and found his way as far afield as Bosnia, where he investigated war crimes.

Along the way he offered support to the families of victims and perpetrators alike. He even lent his shoulder to Shirley Soir, the sister of the backpacker killer Ivan Milat, who collapsed while sitting next to him in court on the day in May 1994 that her brother was charged with seven murders.

Ten days earlier, the burly detective had walked into police history as one of two detectives who arrested Milat at his Eagle Vale home.

In that case he led the search for the weapon, a Ruger 10/22, of which there were more than 100,000 imported into Australia.

He was often given tough tasks, such as the long investigation into the disappearance of the Bondi schoolgirl Samantha Knight.

In recent years, he was seconded to the European War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. His team in the Netherlands charged the former Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic, whose war crimes trial is still before the international court.

Sergeant Leach spent more than two years walking through massacre sites and talking to survivors.

He came back to Sydney last year, returning to the homicide squad and recalling good times in Europe with his wife Christine, a schoolteacher.

He was chuffed that one of his two sons had also joined the police force, while the other had signed up for the army.

The Police Commissioner, Ken Moroney, remembered a detective of impeccable character.

“I’m sure he will be remembered, not only in the coming days … but certainly in years to come, as one of the most experienced detectives we have [had] here in NSW, and we are the poorer for his loss today.”

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/03/1091476494599.html


 

Colleagues grieve for a lauded detective

By Les Kennedy
August 4, 2004

 

Homicide detective Steve Leach, left, takes Ivan Milat into custody in 1994.

Apart from time spent with their families, there are few moments of joy in the lives of homicide investigators.

They see the grief of others and are expected to bear their own feelings inwardly. Steve Leach had borne the grief of many – until yesterday. Now his colleagues are facing the tragedy of his own violent death.

Detective Senior Sergeant Leach, one of the Australia’s most experienced homicide detectives, took his life with his own handgun in the heart of the new NSW Police Headquarters in Parramatta.

It seems nobody saw it coming. When family, friends and colleagues looked at the life of 51-year-old Senior Sergeant Leach, what they saw was an extraordinary career that began when he joined the force as a 16-year-old cadet in 1969.

He was a second-generation police officer who, over 35 years, played key roles in some of Australia’s most high-profile and most horrific cases.

His talents were also sought internationally. He was seconded to the European War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague to investigate the killing fields of Bosnia, and was instrumental in the arrest of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, who is facing genocide charges.

But the hard-nosed detective also had a gift for empathy and gave his support to the families of victims and perpetrators alike.

He even lent his shoulder to Shirley Soir, the sister of Ivan Milat, who collapsed while sitting next to him in court on the day in May 1994 when her brother was charged with the murders of seven backpackers.

Ten days earlier, he walked into police history as one of two detectives who arrested Milat.

He was often asked to investigate cases where the trails had seemingly run cold, such as the 1986 disappearance of Bondi schoolgirl Samantha Knight. But by the time his team had secured the conviction of Michael Guider, Senior Sergeant Leach was in Bosnia, walking through massacre sites, talking to survivors.

He returned to Sydney last year, speaking only of the good times in Europe with his wife Christine, a school teacher. He was chuffed that one of his two sons had joined the force, while the other had joined the army.

But he had been on sick leave since early June after injuring his legs in a car crash in Europe. He had recently applied to be pensioned off as hurt on duty, but had appeared upbeat planning for his early retirement.

Senior Sergeant Leach was on leave when he arrived at police headquarters yesterday, went into the sound-proof weapon storage room and took his gun. No one heard the shot. Another officer found his body at noon.

One shocked colleague and mate said: “There you go, buddy. The futility of it all. We are all feeling that empty feeling. Why?”

Those needing assistance can reach Suicide Helpline Victoria on 1300 651 251, Lifeline on 131 114 (both 24-hour lines), SANE on 1800 688 382 or Kids Help Line on 1800 551 800.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/03/1091476497108.html

 


 

Top cop found shot dead

August 4, 2004 — 5.09am

One of NSW’s top police investigators was found shot dead in the state’s police headquarters today, shattering his family, friends and colleagues around the world.

Detective Sergeant Steve Leach, 51, an internationally recognised officer who helped investigate former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic on behalf of the United Nations, was found with a single gunshot wound to the head shortly before midday.

Among his local achievements, Det Sgt Leach was instrumental in the arrest of backpacker murderer Ivan Milat and the investigations into missing Sydney school girl Samantha Knight.

NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney rushed to Parramatta upon hearing the news and, while he declined to speculate on the cause of death, said it was not believed to be suspicious.

The detective sergeant was not working today, having returned to NSW from The Hague in the Netherlands only in recent months.

Top cop found shot dead

 


 

Steve Leach Memorial

by Kevin Caruso

Detective Sergeant Steve Leach, from Sydney, Australia, was a well-known, veteran police officer with 35 years of experience.

Steve Leach was so highly respected by his fellow officers that they referred to him as “a policeman’s policeman.”

He was assigned some of Australia’s most horrific crimes. And he arrested serial killer Ivan Milat (see picture above), who murdered seven people between 1989 and 1992.

He also worked in Serbia and Montenegro from 2000 to 2003 as an investigator for the European War Crimes Tribunal, in which he had to view sites where massacres occurred, and then interview survivors.

Steve was an extremely strong man, both physically and mentally, and handled all of his assignments with the highest levels of integrity, courage, intelligence, and competence.

He was also highly ambitious and believed that he should have received a higher rank than detective sergeant.

And he was frustrated by what he believed was a ridiculous and unfair promotion system in which he and other officers were forced to engage in “role play” during their promotion examinations.

In March, Steve applied for a newly created position as inspector at the coroner’s office, but the job was given to a much younger officer who had only a fraction of Steve’s experience.

Steve was furious and appealed the decision.

Unbelievably, Steve lost the appeal.

And soon afterwards, he became depressed.

On August 2, 2004, Steve, who was off-duty at the time, calmly walked into the police station, went to the armory room, obtained his service handgun, and shot himself in the head.

He was 51.

Steve’s fellow police officers were shocked, and immediately blamed the idiotic promotion system.

One outraged officer did not mince words when he described the promotion system as “bullshit.” He went on the say, “The promotions system is the only thing that was upsetting this very calm, [great police officer]. The current system is promoting people with just 12 years of experience over someone with 35 years of experience – this just destroys people like Steve Leach.”

Steve was one of the greatest police officers in Australia’s history.

Everyone loved and respected him.

And he made the streets safer because of his hard work.

He was a dedicated, superstar cop who loved his job and who loved to help people.

He was a hero.

http://www.suicide.org/memorials/steve-leach.html


 

A rank way to treat the cops Transcript
ADAM SHAND: Steve Leach was the model of what a detective should be – tough, uncompromising in his pursuit of crime, but fair and compassionate. He kept his own counsel as he served others right up to the day he took his own life.
KEN MORONEY, NSW POLICE COMMISSIONER: A very sad day for the organisation to lose officers of this quality and this calibre who’ve selflessly served the people of this state to the very best of their skill and ability.
ADAM SHAND: In 31 years of service, Steve Leach had worked some of NSW’s most difficult cases. He had seen the dark side of humanity, arresting backpacker murderer Ivan Milat, and solving the abduction of school girl Samantha Knight. In Leach’s death, his comrades saw their own images. At his funeral, the priest said that no-one should speculate on Leach’s own untold story.
GARY HESKET, FORMER NSW DETECTIVE: I looked in the church. I could see a lot of young police there with promotion on their shoulders. I saw a lot of older police there, experienced heads. And not at the same level. “Don’t speculate”, I thought to myself. I thought, “That’s just saying we should never ever speak about this matter ever again.”
ADAM SHAND: No-one will ever know why, at the age of 51, Steve Leach lost hope that day. But many senior detectives can trace their own disillusion back to the massive changes introduced after the Wood Royal Commission into police corruption in the mid-1990s. The Commissioner recommended a complete overhaul of the force’s management style. A new promotion system was introduced that no longer ensured progress through the ranks based on years of service.
MARK FENLON, FORMER POLICE SERGEANT: It’s had a huge detrimental effect on morale. It’s had a huge detrimental effect upon police officers with experience who have been disenfranchised by the process. Who have been and are continue to seek exit from the police force at the earliest opportunity. And this has left a huge void in the organisation in terms of experience, in terms of training and development of younger police, in terms of expertise to deal with crime, which can’t be replaced.
ADAM SHAND: Gary Hesket left the force a year ago after three decades in the job. He keeps up with his mates through his role in as a trainer in the police rugby league competition.
GARY HESKET: This is good for the camaraderie, the esprit de corps. It’s the best things they could do after working in the police environment they’re in – get out here and have a game amongst each other.
ADAM SHAND: You pick up the paper and see Steve Leach has committed suicide. What did that mean to you when you heard that?
GARY HESKET: The first question I asked was, “Was he passed over for promotion?” And the word that came back to me was ‘yes’.
ADAM SHAND: Like Steve Leach, Gary Hesket devoted his life to catching villains. He was a natural-born detective, voted policeman of the year in 2001 by his local community in western Sydney.
GARY HESKET: Then you’re told, “Well, Gary, if you want to be promoted, the best thing you can do is forget about police work, find a desk somewhere and hide and do yourself a degree or diploma because that’s the only way you’re going to get promoted in the future of NSW Police.”
ADAM SHAND: Hesket says many of his generation of detectives have simply been dumped on the scrap heap.
GARY HESKET: But at the end of the time when you put in 35 years, where is your reward? Where is your reward?
ADAM SHAND: On the day his family and comrades farewelled Steve Leach, NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney awarded him a ribbon recognising his achievement in solving 15-year-old mystery of Samantha Knight’s disappearance.
GARY HESKET: And he did a magnificent job and he solved it, and now, posthumously, Mr Moroney is giving him a medal for that. Why wasn’t he given a medal when the case was solved, while he was alive?
ADAM SHAND: When Leach was seconded as a war crimes investigator to the former Yugoslavia, he won praise for a difficult job. On his return to Australia, he expected a promotion to finish his career as a commissioned officer.
MICK KENNEDY, FORMER NSW DETECTIVE: And the reason he couldn’t get promoted was he could do the job but he couldn’t pretend he could do the job. He couldn’t get through the assessment stuff, I suppose, or the role play nonsense. I was a detective for 20 years in the NSW Police…
ADAM SHAND: These days Mick Kennedy is researching trends in modern policing for a PhD. He believes the root of the crisis facing Steve Leach’s generation is a lack of support for field officers.
MICK KENNEDY: He didn’t kill himself because he was working in the evils and the horrors of criminal investigation, because that’s part and parcel of the work that you can deal with. You insulate yourself from it, you deal with that. But all of the time that you’re dealing with those murky, dirty hands areas of working it needs to be constantly reinforced that you’re dependent upon your organisation to support you in times of crisis or when things go bad.
ADAM SHAND: When Kennedy faced his own crisis, he found there was no-one to turn to.
MICK KENNEDY: I was in this house some years ago and I had my 38 on the bed and I was in despair over a range of issues. And I was thinking seriously, “Well, the best thing I could do is to kill myself”, so I ring the police medical officer and I got through to a woman who couldn’t speak English. I was on the phone with her for 20 minutes telling her that I was considering shooting myself and I’d like to speak to someone about it. In the end, I hung up in disgust because I couldn’t speak to anyone. Now I thought, “God, almighty! I can’t even try to attract attention. No-one’s interested! No-one really cares”, you know?
ADAM SHAND: Faced with growing criticism, the NSW Government asked former Assistant Commissioner Geoff Schuberg to investigate the promotions system. He found many detectives had lost their sense of purpose in the job.
GEOFF SCHUBERG, FORMER ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER: And one of the great problems in the system was that a number of police were applying for positions outside their area of expertise and winning them and they were put in a position where they were supervising and managing police when they had no experience or previous qualifications to do so.
ADAM SHAND: Promotion, it seemed to Schoenberg, had become more important to the rank and file than the job itself.
GEOFF SCHUBERG: Police really took their eye off the game of catching crooks and the promotions race seemed to be the main topic of the day, where people simply talked about positions that were being advertised, positions which they were applying for. There was a lot of resentment. There was a lot of drop in morale because of people who were applying for positions and couldn’t even get interviews. And I think that’s still very much the case.
ADAM SHAND: Crime reporter Steve Barrett has been watching this generation of police officers for over 20 years. He’s seen the job consume too many of them.
STEVE BARRETT, CRIME REPORTER: There was another detective inspector up at one of the stations in the Newcastle area who, with his service pistol, shot himself in the police station. Till this day, that family doesn’t know what happened to that person, why he took his own life. And you really have got to say to yourself, “What is this all about? Why is this happening?”
ADAM SHAND: The Wood Royal Commission identified this generation of detectives as fertile ground for corruption, and set about purging its ranks.
STEVE BARRETT: I mean, there was some very good work done by the Royal Commission but there was also some work where evidence was put before the Commission which was just, quite frankly, not true. And there was bad collateral damage and when you look at what’s happened, you think to yourself, “Well, a lot of police did down tools.” There’s no doubt about that. Then you see all these gangs growing up around Sydney – and I suppose it’s bit like if you don’t weed the garden, you’re going to get weeds.
MARK FENLON: And this is reflected in the crime clear-up rates for NSW. They’re the lowest in the country. Around about 12 percent of robberies are being solved within the first 90 days of the offence occurring. 5 percent of break and enters within the same period. It’s scandalous. That’s how this policy is impacting and has impacted and will continue to impact on policing in this State.
ADAM SHAND: Old-style cops say policing has become a numbers game these days. In crime statistics, a bust for a broken window counts for the same as a murder. The critics say it is the same wherever the police have moved from a paramilitary-based model free enterprise-style management – commanders are forced to strive for quantitative outcomes like managers in a boardroom.
MICK KENNEDY: The problem is that productivity is measured, in policing terms, in terms of arrests, and they say, “That’s great.” But it’s about trivial arrests. What they do, you get a senior commander and have a meeting and he humiliates everybody by yelling at them and screaming at them, “Why aren’t your – why aren’t your arrest rates up? How come my stolen vehicles is down?” You say, “We don’t have any staff. I’m not interested in that!” And it’s humiliating, and it’s a humiliating process and it is a degrading.
ADAM SHAND: Kennedy says the older detectives often find the pressure intolerable as they watch younger colleagues ride a desk to the top. He says the promotions system rewards those that work it. You gather merit points from education and role playing sessions where officers must show a grasp of the new language and politics of community policing. For an undercover detective, this is the theatre of the absurd.
MICK KENNEDY: I had been doing undercover work for far too long. I had a twitch. I had a stutter. My hair was dropping out. I had psoriasis all over my hands and I have no doubt if I had have killed myself some idiot would say, “But, mate, he was just a bit tired, We didn’t know he had any real problems.”
ADAM SHAND: Former sergeant Mark Fenlon served for 20 years. He left the force reluctantly after a distinguished career.
MARK FENLON: I had to get out of policing. I blew the whistle on promotions corruption in 1999. Nothing was done in relation to the complaints I made. The promotions system, it’s allowed people who haven’t got the qualifications, the experience, to gain promotion to gain positions – senior positions within the organisation – to lead the organisation.
ADAM SHAND: Although his complaints were investigated, the system remains relatively unchanged and Mark Fenlon says its major faults are beginning to show.
MARK FENLON: No better example than recently would be Redfern, where there were two images that is stuck in my mind. One was of police being directed to line up across a street and be subjected to bottles being thrown at them, Molotov cocktails being thrown at them. The other image is that there were perhaps half-a-dozen senior officers in the background in the background with mobile phones to their ears looking for a direction, looking for some guidance in relation to what to do with the situation.
RON STEPHENSON, FORMER POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: In my day – and I’m not blowing my trumpet – but if you were placed in that situation, if you were in arm’s length away from some of the offenders, they’d be in the back of the truck and charged with assault, indecent language, offensive behaviour, whatever the matter was.
ADAM SHAND: Inspector Ron Stephenson was the officer in charge the day, in 1984, when two bikie gangs, the Bandidos and the Comancheros, squared off in the car park of the Viking Tavern, in Milperra. Seven people already lay dead and experience told Stephenson that, without quick thinking, the murderers would walk free.
RON STEPHENSON: A decision would be made that they’d be rounded up, interviewed, and charged. They were only charged that day with offensive behaviour and cause of fray but, three weeks later, after we’d worked out the full picture, we raided simultaneously 43 homes, arrested 43 bikers and charged them with 301 charges of murder.
ADAM SHAND: But just how you restore confidence in a force that has lost so much in terms of experience is another matter. More than half of NSW police have been in the job for less than five years. Training simulation exercises like this one are now a key measure of competence and suitability for promotion.
STEVE BARRETT: I can tell you about another guy who was the boss of homicide for five years. In the north-west of Sydney. And he had to go to an assessment testing centre for a day, where they role play. And, I don’t know – because he wasn’t a good actor, he didn’t get promoted. Now, he just walked away. He’s gone. So all this experience over years and years and years of hard slog for the taxpayer of NSW has just gone like that.
ADAM SHAND: But NSW Police Minister John Watkins denies the service is in crisis, that many more officers like Steve Leach are at risk. He insists morale in the force is at its highest since the Wood Royal Commission clean out.
JOHN WATKINS, NSW POLICE MINISTER: The separation rate for NSW Police is the lowest it’s been for eight years and the actual resignation rate is the lowest it’s been for 10 years. It’s a very stable force in NSW and morale is the highest it’s been for a generation.
ADAM SHAND: But the Minister does accept the need for a review of the promotions system. He chairs a working party of detectives which is discussing the problem.
JOHN WATKINS: There was a working party, the Schuberg working party, that’s reported to me. I’ve given that to the Anderson working party to report to me by the end of this year for legislative changes to be put in place so a new promotions system can be up and running from 1 July, 2005.
ADAM SHAND: Victoria Police Service has also established a merit-based promotion system, which favours education over experience. There are morale issues in Victoria as a result, but the greater problem is a war on corruption.
CHRISTINE NIXON, CHIEF COMMISSIONER, VICTORIA POLICE: I did come to Victoria Police with an understanding there was corruption here. It’s the kind of attitude Victoria Police had that they didn’t have corruption really was a bit of a myth.
ADAM SHAND: Unlike NSW, where the Royal Commission fast-tracked a clean out of bent coppers, Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon’s management team is driving reform.
CHRISTINE NIXON: In policing, there will always be corruption. What you have to do is figure out where the high-risk areas are, where the likelihood of that corruption is to occur and to try change the systems and practices or, in fact, focus on people who might be working in those areas.
ADAM SHAND: Nixon has identified so-called legends in the force which, she says, have set bad examples for young officers. Though he left the force nearly 20 years ago, Brian Murphy is still Victoria’s most feared and revered officer – a legend amongst crims and coppers. Back in 1971, Murphy was charged with the killing of a suspect in custody. Although he was acquitted, he found the incident gave him an unhealthy reputation amongst some junior officers.
BRIAN MURPHY, FORMER VICTORIAN POLICE OFFICER: There would be a lot of young people think, “Well, Murphy did it and got away with it. I’ll try do what he did or what he was involved in, something similar.” And it’s not always a good thing.
ADAM SHAND: Should you have been gone back in the force, do you think?
BRIAN MURPHY: From time to time I think that it was most probably a bad move that I did go back in, but I couldn’t think of doing anything else than police work.
ADAM SHAND: When Murphy returned to duty he was given a new role. Leading a small team known as “Murphy’s Marauders”, he took on the villains in their own pubs, sending a message of fear through the underworld. It was an old-school, often violent, method that, although successful, is certainly not endorsed in today’s force.
BRIAN MURPHY: If somebody is arrested and he received a certain amount of corporal punishment, it would most probably be as a result of an assault on the policeman first. And policemen are permitted, the same as anybody else in the community, to prevent an assault, to use force, more than what is being used on them.
ADAM SHAND: Some Victorian police feel the pendulum has swung too far. Officers now feel powerless in the face of criminals who have exploited the new, sensitive approach to police enforcement.
CHRISTINE NIXON: I guess I don’t quite see that and I have a lot of contact with police. Australia has this kind of way of seeing villains as the heroes – Ned Kelly, I suppose, Roger Rogerson in NSW, and Brian Murphy is another. I don’t think they see them as the heroes, the real heroes in policing. I think they see them as people who just behaved and were of their time. What we have to do now is live within the legal boundaries.
ADAM SHAND: But Brian Murphy believes some officers are being used as political pawns as management seeks to reassure the public of the integrity of the service. He could see the writing on the wall and took early retirement. He finds himself counselling many young officers unsure of their future career direction.
BRIAN MURPHY: And a lot of them have left the job and rue the day they ever left because it’s a big, hard, cold world out there and the wages they were getting on numerous occasions they’ve found wanting and they get outside. They haven’t got the camaraderie, they haven’t got the protection of the government behind them.
ADAM SHAND: Maybe the job isn’t what it used to be, and many would say that’s a step forward. But men like Gary Hesket feel they’ve been let down by an administration that’s changed the rules in the middle of the game.
GARY HESKET: At the end of my days, for all the hard work you did, they take your badge, they take your ID. There’s nothing. You’re stripped. At the end of your days, who are you? You’ve given all these years of service. You just walk away and there’s this wealth of experience just sitting out there just wasting away and dying away.Click here for a printer-friendly version.http://sgp1.paddington.ninemsn.com.au/sunday/feature_stories/transcript_1687.asp

RIP Detective Senior Sergeant Leach

Silver Member

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/…476494599.html

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_…55E421,00.html

An unbelievably tragic death.

He brought Ivan Milat to justice. He worked on the disappearance of nine-year-old schoolgirl Samantha Knight and the death of Sydney mother Zoe Zou, who died last November. He recently spent two years walking through massacre sites and talking to victims of Slobodan Milosevic for the European War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague.

Offline Quote
04-08-2004, 10:44 AM   #2
♥♥ pEeK-a-bOo ♥♥
i know.. i heard bout that yesterday
noone knows why he done it.. and his got a family and kids too… so sad….
my condolence goes out to them all..R. I . P.

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04-08-2004, 10:54 AM   #3
Platinum Member

It is very very sad that such an important man within the Australian justice system has gone.

I can’t imagine the things he must have seen over his 35 years as a policeman. Obviously it was to much for him in the end.

RIP

 

Offline Quote
04-08-2004, 11:01 AM   #4
New Member
i just read about this. how tragic. he helped so many people by bringing people like ivan milat to justice, and it just got too much. it’s awful. my heart goes out to his family, friends and colleagues.
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04-08-2004, 11:02 AM   #5
Banned

It is so sad and the worst part is the not knowing.

Perhaps we could also say RIP to Senior Constable Ian Ross Dennis?

http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/media/d…ectionID=media

Another fine Police Officer taken from us too early. If only there were more out there like him.

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04-08-2004, 11:12 AM   #6
Bronze Member
Zoe Zou was my friend. I hope this doesn’t effect the trial of the accussed.
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04-08-2004, 11:12 AM   #7
Bronze Member

Edit: double post

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sambellina on 2004-08-04 12:13 ]</font>

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04-08-2004, 11:13 AM   #8
Wildlife Warrior – Sadly Missed
corrupt maybe?
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04-08-2004, 11:15 AM   #9
Gold Member

I saw him talk about the backpacker murders in Adelaide when I was in first year doing a forensic and analytical chemistry course and he inspired me to finish my degree. I am quite that he’s gone – he was an amazing speaker and a tenacious investigator.

E

Offline Quote
04-08-2004, 11:16 AM   #10
The heart ages last . .

What this the one who dies under sus circumstances?

It is so sad how all these people who do wonderful things for their community usually don’t have outlets for how they are feeling/coping with everything they have seen.

__________________
Her Most Noble Lady Nightshade the Precocious of Kesslington under Ox – Going to Paris for my birthday!!

[divider_dotted]

04-08-2004, 11:20 AM   #11
Platinum Member

It just about breaks my heart to read things like this…

As someone who dreams of becoming a police officer one day, I’m glad to know that there are such fine members of the police force within Australia and to know that their hard work and compassion in the job has assisted so many people and has set a respected precedent for future officers.

It’s important to commend and appreciate our nation’s police officers to help dispell the hostile attitude many members of public have against police officers – we often quickly forget that there are real people and families beneith the blue uniform.

My dad was friends with a member of the Victorian Police force who was killed while on duty, it’s upsetting to remember the sadness that his death had on our family as his friends, let alone what it must be like for immediate family..

My heart and prayers go out to both families – especially Snr Det. Leach’s son.

Offline Quote
04-08-2004, 11:29 AM   #12
Platinum Member
Quote:
On 2004-08-04 12:12, Sambellina wrote:
Zoe Zou was my friend. I hope this doesn’t effect the trial of the accussed.

How heart-breaking for you… I do doubt that it will effect the outcome of the case – but most likely a collegue of Snr Det. Leach will be presenting any facts and evidence.

 

Offline Quote
04-08-2004, 12:03 PM   #13
14860649
thats awful.
R.I.P
Offline Quote
04-08-2004, 12:12 PM   #14
Silver Member
Quote:
On 2004-08-04 12:02, sultry wrote:
It is so sad and the worst part is the not knowing.Perhaps we could also say RIP to Senior Constable Ian Ross Dennis?http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/media/d…ectionID=mediaAnother fine Police Officer taken from us too early. If only there were more out there like him.

Thank you very much for that link.

I can’t believe the police force lost two such fine men in the space of only a few hours.

Offline Quote
05-08-2004, 09:23 AM   #15
Banned
Quote:
On 2004-08-04 12:13, Emily-May wrote:
corrupt maybe?

Do you mean maybe he was corrupt or he saw too much corruption? Regardless, it’s tragic the amount of police officers who end up comitting suicide because of the stress involved with their job or the ‘inner workings’ of police culture. A truly fine police officer who potentially saved a lot of people’s lives

Offline

 

Further readinghttp://researchdirect.uws.edu.au/islandora/object/uws%3A3679/datastream/PDF/view


 

Location of Cremation plaque


 

 

 




Patrick John CLEARY

Patrick John CLEARY

AKA  ? 

Late of  ? 

 

“possible” relation in ‘the job’:    ?

 

NSW Goulburn Police Academy –  Class #  DPP 03 ( Class 277 )

 

New South Wales Police Force

 

Regd. #  34??? 

 

Rank:  Commenced Training at Goulburn Police Academy on Monday ? ? ?

Probationary Constable- appointed Friday 3 September 1999 ( aged 20 years, 4 months, 24 days )

Constable – appointed ? ? ?

Constable 1st Class – appointed ? ? ? 

Detective – appointed ? ? ? ( YES )

Senior Constable – appointed ? ? ? 

Leading Senior Constable – appointed ? ? ? ( N/A )

 

Final Rank: =  Detective Senior Constable

 

Stations:  ?, Chatswood JIRT office – Death

  

Service: From  ? ? 1999   to  24 November 2005  6 years Service

 

Retirement / Leaving age: =  30 years, 8 months, 20 days

Time in Retirement from Police:  0

 

Awards:  No Find on Australian Honours system

 

 Born:  Tuesday 4 March 1975

Died on Thursday 24 November 2005 during the morning

Age:  30 years, 8 months, 20 days

Organ Donor:  Y / N / ?

 

Cause:   Depression – Suicide – Departmental Firearm

Event location: at Chatswood JIRT office – opposite Chatswood Police Station, NSW

Event date:   Thursday 24 November 2005

 

Funeral date? ? ?

Funeral location

LIVE STREAM    PIN:  TBA   Email:  TBA

 

( click here to see Cornona19 Virus Pandemic rules – this will be a limited numbers Funeral )

any Future Wake location??? 

any Future Wake date???

( Due to current Govt. restrictions on ‘Gatherings’ due to Corona19 Virus Pandemic, some families may wish to have a Memorial Service / Wake with friends and family at a later date )

 

Funeral Parlour: ?

Buried at:   Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens & Crematorium,

Grave:  Portion:  North East Terrace,  Garden Plinth, Row:  5,   Plot: 86 ?

GPS:  -33.793889  –  151.154167

Patrick John CLEARY, Patrick CLEARY, Pat CLEARY: In Loving Memory of Patrick John CLEARY 4 March 1975 - 24 November 2005. Loved and remembered by Family and Friends. May you Rest In Peace.
Photo Credit: Lynn Lucas – Sept. 2022

 

Memorial / Plaque / Monument located at?

Dedication date of Memorial / Plaque / Monument: Nil – at this time ( April 2022 )

Patrick CLEARY, Pat CLEARY

 

PAT is NOT mentioned on the NSW Police Wall of Remembrance  * BUT SHOULD BE

PAT is NOT mentioned on the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra ( last checked 130922 / 170723 )  *NEED MORE INFO

PAT IS NOT mentioned on the Sydney Police Centre Memorial Wall, Surry Hills ( Sept. 2022 / 170723 )


 

FURTHER INFORMATION IS NEEDED ABOUT THIS PERSON, THEIR LIFE, THEIR CAREER AND THEIR DEATH.

PLEASE SEND PHOTOS AND INFORMATION TO Cal


 

May they forever Rest In Peace

https://www.facebook.com/groups/AustralianPolice.com.au/ 

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/NSWFallenPolice/ 

Australian Police YouTube Channel


 

At Chatswood police station in November 2005, Detective Senior Constable Patrick Cleary shot himself dead before colleagues arrived for work.

 

Patrick is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance

 

Again a policeman clocks on, kills himself

By Les Kennedy
November 25, 2005

What possesses some people to do the unspeakable to little children – even their own?

Patrick Cleary was a police officer who plunged into the dark secrets of families to catch sex offenders or those who preyed on and cruelly abused children.

Yesterday, barely six years after joining the NSW Police Service, and three years after becoming a detective, the 31-year-old was found shot dead in an apparent suicide.

The Police Operations Commander, Deputy Commissioner Andrew Scipione, said the death marked a sad day for the NSW Police. At least three other officers in the past four years have taken their own lives in stations with their own service weapons.

“Today is a very tragic day for the NSW Police Force. We have lost a very, very good officer,” Mr Scipione said. “At this stage I might indicate that there appear to be no suspicious circumstances and it has just been a terrible, terrible tragedy. I am told he was a first-class officer, and that is a real loss to us.”

Detective Cleary, who grew up on Sydney’s northern beaches, had since July been in charge of the Chatswood Joint Investigation Response Team, comprising four detectives and four investigators from the Department of Community Services.

The unit had responsibility for investigating all child abuse cases from North Sydney to Hornsby, on Sydney’s outskirts.

The tight-knit unit which dealt with the stuff of nightmares – little children recounting their ordeals at the hands of abusers – coped by reassuring themselves that whatever the outcome, even traumatic family separations, they were protecting the weak.

But police said yesterday that no one recognised the emotional turmoil within Detective Cleary.

His death, which has shocked officers in all nine metropolitan joint investigation response teams as well as the 60-officer Child Protection and Serious Sex Crimes Squad at Parramatta, is the subject of an intensive investigation by a critical incident team from the homicide squad.

But Mr Scipione, who addressed Detective Cleary’s distraught colleagues, said the death was not being treated as suspicious.

He said the officers and the DOCS investigators who worked with Detective Cleary were receiving counselling.

Those in the response teams received counselling every three months to determine how they were coping, but this would now be reviewed.

“No one ever knows why these tragedies happen. We may never know,” he said.

Detective Cleary’s widowed mother was comforted by the head of the Child Protection and Serious Sex Crimes Squad, Helen Begg, who broke the news to her at her home yesterday.

Police said it appeared Detective Cleary had arrived early for work, disconnecting the alarm to the office.

He had been dead for up to an hour before his body was found. There was a single gunshot wound to the head.

A co-worker found him in a room away from his office at 8.45am. Lying beside his body was his Glock semi-automatic service pistol. There was no note.

Police said Detective Cleary had graduated from the police academy in September 1999.

For the three years he worked at Dee Why and Manly police before joining the Chatswood JIRT team as a Senior Constable.

“He dealt with the problems of fragile young people, taking it in. It’s not a good thing,” one officer said yesterday.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/11/24/1132703316805.html?from=rss


 

Newcastle Anglican diocese business manager John Cleary’s work is his late detective brother’s legacy

 

JOHN Cleary carried a photo of his late brother Pat with him as he gave evidence on Wednesday about the Anglican Church’s shocking history of child sexual abuse in the Hunter region.

Patrick CLEARY - NSWPF - Suicide - 24 November 2005 ( in uniform ). His brother - John CLEARY in striped tie.
Patrick CLEARY – NSWPF – Suicide – 24 November 2005 ( in uniform ). His brother – John CLEARY in striped tie.


 

Nothing further, than what is recorded above, is known about this person at the time of publication and further information and photos would be appreciated.

**********

 

Cal
13 January 2014


 

 




Rachael Gai WILSON

Rachael Gai Wilson

Constable

New South Wales Police Force

Class 266

Registered #:  ?????

Died at Rydalmere, NSW,

Service:  From ? ? 1996 to 22 September 1999 = 3 years Service

24 old

Suicide – shot – Service Pistol to chest

Stationed:  Mt Druitt, Quaker’s Hill, Seven Hills, Penrith, Ermington Police Station – Plain clothes – Anti Theft Squad – Death

Funeral:  Winston Hills on 28 September 1999

Rachael Gail WILSON, Rachael WILSON

Rachael was a plain clothes constable performing proactive duties at Ermington, NSW.


Rachael suffered psychological injuries which were later declined by the insurer.

She slipped into a greater depression and subsequently died from a self inflicted gun shot wound from her own Service weapon, whilst On Duty, after she drove to Eric Primrose Reserve, Rydalmere.

 

A beautiful smile no longer shines, but her light lives on in the hearts of her loved ones and friends.

May Rachael forever Rest In Peace.




Morgan James HILL

Morgan James HILL

New South Wales Police Force

Goulburn Police Academy Class # ???

Regd. # 40683

 

Rank:  Commenced Training at Goulburn Police Academy on ? ? ?

Probationary Constable – appointed ? ? ?

Constable – appointed ? ? ?

Constable 1st Class – appointed ? ? ?

 

Final Rank:  Constable 1st Class

 

Stations:  Waverley

 

Awards:  Commissioner’s Unit Citation for actions on Sunday  11 December 2005

 

Service:  From  29 April 2005  to  27 March 2009 = 3+ years Service

 

Born:  Tuesday  25 January 1983

Died:  Friday  27 March 2009

Age:  26 years, 2 months, 2 days old

Cause:  Severe PTSD – Suicide – self inflicted gunshot wound, with Service Glock, at Fishermans Rd, Malabar

 

Funeral date:  Thursday 2 April 2009

Funeral location:  Our Lady of Sacred Heart Church, 193 Avoca St, Randwick

Grave location:  Ashes Interned at Botany Cemetery on 25 January 2010

RC6 – Roman Catholic FM 6 – 560

 

Constable Morgan James HILL - Suicide - 27 March 2009. Morgan HILL

Morgan HILL - NSWPF - Suicicded 27 March 2009

 

Morgan commenced his shift at Waverley Police Station at 8pm on the evening of 27 March 2009.

At 8.39pm, at Fisherman’s Road, Malabar, in his private vehicle, Morgan ended his life whilst suffering severe depression induced by the effects of anti-depressant medication he had been prescribed.

 

Morgan was born on 25 January 1983 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 29 April, 2005.

He was 26 years of age at the time of his death by suicide and stationed at Waverley, Eastern Suburbs Local Area Command.

 

Morgan is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance But Should be

MORGAN ( as of 2017 ) IS mentioned on the NSW Police Wall of Remembrance


* Stemming from the continued work of the wives of four Fallen NSW Police to Suicide – those four names will now be included in the newly refurbished NSW Police Wall of Remembrance, Sydney, as of 2017

Congratulations to those family members who fought the fight to right this wrong.

*

Commissioner Scipione has telephoned each of us today to advise that our loved ones names are being added to the replacement NSW Police Force Wall of Remembrance, to be unveiled in the next few weeks.

We would like to thank everyone who has offered support over a long and difficult journey and truly hope this sets a precedent for all police departments, not only in Australia but the global policing community.

It is so very important to remember that policing can and often does have a detrimental effect on those who serve.

We believe that the inclusion of suicide deaths, stemming from a work related psychological injury, is the most compassionate way of showing that the police hierarchy truly cares.

The following names will be added:

Detective Sergeant Ashley Bryant

Sergeant Tom Galvin

Senior Constable Scott Nicholson

Constable Morgan Hill

#OneWallForAll


Support Aussie Cops
6 hrs · ( Thursday  24 March 2016 )

7 years ago this Easter Sunday, on 27 March, we lost our only brother and son, Morgan Hill. He took his life on duty that night. I would never wish this type of grief on another family. What has made it worse than losing Morgan though is being subjected to the stigma attached to suicide. With every year that goes by this is reinforced by NSW Police that Morgan’s death (and many before and since) are not worthy of the respect they deserve, because of HOW they died. But…we will continue to highlight this injustice and the shame is not on Morgan or our family…it is actually on YOU – the high ranking officials of the NSW Police Force – and leaders of any Force – that perpetuates this stigma by specifically excluding them from your Wall of Remembrance!


 

Constable Morgan James HILL – Suicide – 27 March 2009 – Coroners report – 9 Sept 2011

The response, from the Commissioner of Police, to the above Coroners report:

On 2 April 2012, Police Commissioner AP Scipione APM advised the Coroner as follows:

“The NSW Police Force established a Self Harm Prevention Advisory Panel (the Panel) in 2010, following a recommendation of the Deputy State Coroner Dillon in 2009 arising from the death of Sgt Ian Muir. The role of the Panel was recently reviewed and amendments are currently being made to its charter to oversight the NSW Police Force response to Recommendations in all coronial matters involving self-harm by police officers.”

http://www.lsb.justice.nsw.gov.au/agdbasev7wr/_assets/lsb/m500001l1/coronersrecommendationsjune2011to%20december%202011.doc


 

In Loving Memory of Officer Morgan Hill, Australia, 2009

Morgans Hill

Twenty six years old that day
the sun refused to shine.
On a back street in Australia
in the year two thousand nine.

Haunted by his killer
named PTSD.
He longed just for peace of mind
he longed to just be free.

He told them of the pain inside
it hurt too much to bear.
They put him on restricted duty
to show how much they care.

They followed their procedure
and showed him what they think.
He could return to work again
once cleared by their shrink.

Just a short time later
from all he had endured.
Glory hallelujah
the shrink said he was cured.

Just four short days later
he could not bear the load.
He parked his car in silence
just right off the road.

He should have been dreaming dreams
of children or a wife.
The sun moved quietly behind the clouds
and Morgan took his life.

The bright eyed little boy they knew
his sisters there were four.
Left with such an emptiness
not like it was before.

So they do the best they can
they loved him like no other.
But not a day passes by
they don’t think about their brother.

Edwin C Hofert

 

I’d just like to say that it’s my hope sometime down the road after Code Nine has met with much success and people are being helped instead of silenced. I hope I never have to write another poem like this again. Because ending stories like this is what they’re all about. Please remember Mr Hills family and friends in prayer and ask that they be comforted by the memories they treasure. And not haunted by the way his life so suddenly ended. Thanks to all of you for praying. Sincerely Edwin C Hofert

This poem is one of a series of poems written by me for Code Nine Officer Needs Assistance And is intended to honor the fallen officers and their families that are to be featured in the finished documentary. As well as all others.

To learn more about Code Nine and their efforts to fight against PTSD go to
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php…

https://www.facebook.com/HeartWhispererfanclub.edhofert/timeline


 

Morgan Hill - Commissioners Unit Citation re 2005 Cronulla Riots
Morgan Hill – Commissioners Unit Citation re 2005 Cronulla Riots

NSW Police Force

Commissioner’s Unit Citation

Awarded to Constable Morgan Hill

 

Awarded for outstanding bravery and devotion to duty as a member of the New South Wales Police Force response to civil disorder within the Miranda, Eastern Beaches, St George, and Campsie Local Area Commands.

On Sunday, 11 December 2005, a protracted public order management policing operation commenced in response to a major civil disorder situation in the Cronulla area.  The ensuing violent civil disorder continued in Cronulla and other areas, including Maroubra, Brighton, and Campsie, until Tuesday, 13 December 2005, when the situation was brought under control, with peace and good order restored by members of the Force.

The dedication and devotion to duty rendered by these police who were on the frontline throughout this protracted and dangerous policing response and operation exemplifies the courage, expertise, professionalism and commitment of the New South Wales Police Force.

While protecting members of the community and property from rioters, officers were subjected to various forms of assaults and missile attacks.  These members of the Force, many of whom sustained injury, remained steadfast in the performance of their duty.

Constable Hill warrants due recognition for his courage and meritourious service during this period of civil unrest and thus is highly commended.

 

A P Scipione APM

Commissioner of Police

 

Dated 18 September 2008 but NOT signed.

 

‘Despite the above Commendation being dated 18 September 2008 ( 6 months before Morgan’s death ), the Certificate was handed to the family Posthumously on the very same day that they were also handed documentation stating that Morgan was NOT going to be mentioned on the Wall of Police Remembrance due to the fact he suicided.

These documents were not given to the family until late 2010.’


 

 

Today Tonight TV programme  Channel 7, aired this show on Wednesday  23 July 2014.

The below comments were copied and pasted from the TodayTonightadelaide website on 23 March 2016

 

http://www.todaytonightadelaide.com.au/stories/police-suicide

 

 

  • Jean Simpson says: The Government should be looking at a change in the whole health system , to ask the question why are so many young , old , just so many of the population coming down with Depression , (The Back Dog) . Definitely more counselling services. As well as the government ,we should all try to be more considerate , compassionate to all in society , there is so much suffering out there , and so many issues to deal with today than there was a few years ago. Teresa Cranes comments about the corruption , threats and underhanded dealings within the force has been talked about for as long as i can remember. It makes me really sad to see the young adults of today joining the force with all good intent , with a passion to help our society , only to find that they go to work each day fighting against an epidemic of corruption within there own work place. Like Teresa on this page i knew of an elderly Sergeant who has now retired , because he was told to take an early retirement . To find someone in the force that is not corrupt would be a hard task. How does the average person tell who is who anymore? So sorry for the ones that are trying to make this world a better place , for the opinion of a lot of people is that unfortunately they get tarred with the same brush , one can only imagine the affect on the innocent ones , Wow what a fight they have on there hands ! Love and light to all .
  • :
  • Amanda Schultz says: Teresa Crane you got it spot on! My dad took hi s life in 1981, right in those good old corrupt years! Made a boss aged 32. Took his life aged 37. Left a wife and three daughters. What else do you do when your “boys” are on the take and the bosses buried their heads? I think there needs to be Royal Commissions to make the brass accountable and expose those we know were hypocrites and criminals. SA Police took a good man and destroyed him and his family….we live with it everyday.
  • :
  • Peter Roberts says: Very interesting story and definitely needs looking into
  • :
  • Heather Johns says: It’s unfortunate that they aren’t required to debrief or to talk about an issue without being labelled. It is not just police, fire, ambos, we see it a huge amount in defence too. Why can’t we remove the stigma of PTSD & depression & help those in need as they are helping us? Where is the government funding for more counselling services?
  • :
  • Ross Beckley says: Great story and thanks for making this public. All emergency service personnel are suffering silently and their organisational management need to start addressing these concerns raised in this story.
  • :
  • Trevor Hardy says: SAPOL officers need to find themselves a good private psychologist and see them regularly. You can work through problems and if SAPOL are going to continue to sweep the problems under the carpet, then members need to do it for themselves. Or quit. No job in this Universe is worth killing yourself over.
  • :
  • Jessica Courtney Evans says: Yep…. Someone I’m my family was an officer in nz and took his own life. It’s tragic and awful. They need more support….
  • :
  • Tanya Eldridge-Tregenza says: It’s no bloody secret it’s been happy for a long time.
  • :
  • Lynette Millowick says: Missed out on story was working
  • :
  • Clare Heiss says: Oh poo!! Was really looking forward to seeing it! Thanks for letting us know though!
  • :
  • Today Tonight Adelaide says: Unfortunately we cannot load the video until it has aired in Perth – at the moment it looks like it may run tomorrow so the video won’t be online until Monday morning
  • :
  • Berrick Boland says: Today Tonight, rocks.
  • :
  • Lauren Busbridge says: Same with paramedics!!!!!
  • :
  • Today Tonight Adelaide says: The video will be uploaded tomorrow
  • :
  • Clare Heiss says: I can’t find the story in this link @TodayTonight
  • :
  • Ann Krieg says: PTSD needs to be told and understood. We need to know what and how it happens and to whom. The service men, whether police, or army or navy or air, or whether it is from work and a bad boss or bad experience from an accident, we need to know. 🙂
  • :
  • Berrick Boland says: The Forgotten 300 Facebook page come on and like us for the families of PTSD and Police suicide victims.
  • :
  • Anne Heinrich says: Well I am only one of many people I know who admire the police for their kindness and care of those in need, their patience and persistence and tenacious spirit to keep people alive! Maybe if more people told them so (and I include the media) they might feel more appreciated and needed. Don’t give up guys- there are lots of us who think you’re great!
  • :
  • Sandy McLellan says: I have known many Policeman, but one in particular tells me of the many who simply cannot cope with the ghastly things they have to deal with. We have NO idea how bad it is, very sad. They put their lives on the line for us all the time. Maybe they need much more support on the job and from us, the public.
  • :
  • Tony Crowley says: They should cover SAPOL . We are not clean either
  • :
  • John Hirst says: Be good to see it’s getting some publicity and not ‘swept under the carpet’. Lost a few good colleagues from this and there are so many more stepping close to the line with little or no support from the employer. Tony Crowley for your info.

 


 

 

Posted  Monday  20 June 2016:

CORONERS COURT

Morgan James Hill:

Deputy State Coroner Mitchell On 9 September 2011 at Glebe and Parramatta

FINDINGS.

I find that Morgan Hill who was born on 25 January 1983 died at Fishermans Road Malabar NSW at about 8.39 pm on 27 March 2009 of a gunshot wound to the head, self inflicted while suffering severe depression.

RECOMMENDATIONS;

That a psychiatrist or psychiatrists be employed in the Health and Well being Unit of Welfare Safety Command or retained so as to ensure qualified psychiatric oversight of all police fitness assessments where mental health or emotional stability are an issue.

2.  That appropriate criteria be developed and established to guide and inform police medical officers in assessing the fitness of police officers for various duties within the police force and the fitness of police officers to have possession of a firearm.

3. In particular, that the criteria so developed and established provide that fitness for duty and to carry a firearm is not merely a matter of the absence of a diagnosable psychiatric condition or mental illness.

4. That police medical officer be encouraged to explore with police officers referred by commanders for a fitness assessment the history of that officer and any current or recent medical diagnoses and treatment plan or plans and the identity of that officer’s medical practitioner and to seek the consent of the police officer to that medical practitioner providing appropriate medical information to the police medical officer and that unwillingness to provide that consent be among the matters to be reported to the referring commander.

5. That psychologists assisting in the preparation of fitness assessments be accorded independence from police medical officers.

6. That police medical officer be reminded of the provisions of the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 and, so far as the provision of information to commanding officers is concerned, be encouraged to act in accordance with its terms.

7. That the practice of placing reliance on psychological tests in the preparation of fitness assessments be reviewed by an independent expert.

8.  That the freedom of commanding officers to make their decisions as to the removal or restoration of firearms informed by considerations other than those dealt with by police medical officers be encouraged.

9. That commanding officers be reminded of their entitlement to the provision of information pursuant to the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002.

10. That consideration be given to the establishment of a mentoring system of young officers by more senior officers with a view to the guidance, support and oversight of the performance of those young officers.

RESPONSE

On 2 April 2012, Police Commissioner AP Scipione AMP advised the Coroner as follows:

“The NSW Police Force established a Self Harm Prevention Advisory Panel (the Panel) in 2010, following a recommendation of the Deputy State Coroner Dillon in 2009 arising from the death of Sgt Ian Muir.

The role of the Panel was recently reviewed and amendments are currently being made to its charter to oversight the NSW Police Force response to Recommendations in all coronial matters involving self-harm by police officers.

”Please click here to link to a table which sets out the full Police Force response to the recommendations made by Coroner Mitchell. (Unavailable)

 

Denise Hodder This is hideous that these precious lives are lost and no one in power seems to care ….?

Like · Reply · 5 · 15 hrs

 

Clare Heiss I can tell you, as Morgan’s sister, whom attended this inquest for the two weeks duration it ran, that our family have not once heard about any follow up to these recommendations. Furthermore my parents were invited to be on the “self harm committee” when it began, BEFORE the inquest mind you, but attended maybe two meetings and as far as we know either does not exist anymore or is called something else, but either way we have not been asked to continue to be a part of the panel in terms of reviewing the recommendations made by then Coroner Scott Mitchell (now deceased) nor any ongoing consultation as a family who have lost a police officer to suicide.

Like · Reply · 9 · 15 hrs

 

Barbara June Sounds like a continuing disgrace of the well known…. I am sorry for your families sad sad loss Clare Heiss….

Like · Reply · 2 · 8 hrs

 

 

Benyameen Levinstein Total Negligence!

Really feel for your family loss Clare Heiss

Like · Reply · 2 · 6 hrs

 

Janet Hill We were invited to present at the inaugural Self Harm Prevention Committee in Dec 2009.

Like · Reply · 2 · 13 hrs

 

Berrick Boland What happened to the so-called committee now?

Like · Reply · 1 · 13 hrs

 

Clare Heiss Exactly

Like · Reply · 1 · 13 hrs

 

Dimmy Nicholson It’s just mind numbing to think despite these findings your family have not been kept up to date regarding any changes!!!! ???

Like · Reply · 6 · 13 hrs

 

Clare Heiss What changes?!! ?

Like · Reply · 1 · 13 hrs

 

Dimmy Nicholson Clare Heiss exactly my point!! That’s why no contact because there is no changes 🙁

Like · Reply · 2 · 13 hrs

 

Barbara June Continuing to be continued!

 

Kimberley Galvin The panel.. As its called.. Please show me any person who knows who was on it? Or been contacted by the ( panel)

Like · Reply · 3 · 7 hrs

 

Derek Smith Disgraceful they are! ?? Sorry for your losses.

Like · Reply · 2 · 7 hrs

 

 


 

 

 




Juan Carlos HERNANDEZ

Juan Carlos HERNANDEZ

AKA CARL, CARLOS, BOMBHEAD & ROCKY
Late of ?

NSW Goulburn Academy Class #  226

New South Wales Police Force

Probationary Constable # 98201

Regd. #  23642

Uniform #  1583

Rank:  Commenced Training at the Goulburn Police Academy on 18 February 1987

Probationary Constable – appointed 15 May 1987

Constable – appointed 15 May 1988

Constable 1st Class – appointed

Final Rank = Constable 1st Class

Stations: ?, Paddington ( 10 Division ), State Protection Group Sydney ( SPG ) – Death

Service: From 18 February 1987 to 1 December 1992 = 5+ years Service

Awards: No find on It’s An Honour

Born28 July 1959

Died on:  Tuesday  1 December 1992 @ St Vincent’s Hospital, Darlinghurst

Age: 33 years,  4 months,  3 days

CauseAccidentally Shot at Redfern SPG

Event location:  Redfern Police Academy

Event date:  Tuesday  1 December 1992

Funeral date:  4 December 1992

Funeral location: ?

Wake location: ?

Funeral Parlour: ?

Buried at:  Cremated.  Ashes collected.  Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park, Matraville

Memorial located at: ?

 

Juan Carlos HERNANDEZ

CARL IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance


 

Funeral location: TBA


FURTHER INFORMATION IS NEEDED ABOUT THIS PERSON, THEIR LIFE, THEIR CAREER AND THEIR DEATH.

PLEASE SEND PHOTOS AND INFORMATION TO Cal


 

In 1992 Constable Hernandez was a member of the State Protection Group and a qualified firearms instructor. He was accidentally shot in the chest while testing police in their annual firearms proficiency tests at the Redfern Police Complex. Following emergency surgery Constable Hernandez died at St Vincent’s Hospital, Darlinghurst the same day as the accident.

 

The constable was born in 1959 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 18 February, 1987. At the time of his death he was attached to the State Protection Group.


 

Touch Plate at the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra - HERNANDEZ
Touch Plate at the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra

Kelvin Harband‎NSW Fallen Police New Member · 13 hrs · Juan Hernandez was accidentally shot in the chest while doing firearms training as an Instructor at the Redfern Police Academy on 1 December 1992. Emergency surgery was unable to save his life and he passed on that same day. Juan and I went through the Academy together in 1987 and he will always be remembered and a great bloke whose life was cut way to short by the tragic accident. Juan is in the middle squatting down in this photo which was taken on the day of our attestation.
Photo credit: Kelvin Harband‎   NSW Fallen Police New Member ·    Juan Hernandez was accidentally shot in the chest while doing firearms training as an Instructor at the Redfern Police Academy on 1 December 1992. Emergency surgery was unable to save his life and he passed on that same day. Juan and I went through the Academy together in 1987 and he will always be remembered and a great bloke whose life was cut way to short by the tragic accident. Juan is in the middle squatting down in this photo which was taken on the day of our attestation ( 15 May 1987 ).

 

 

Carl is also credited with designing the TOU insignia – which was maintained in respect to his.

 

 


 

Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 – 1995),

Tuesday 1 December 1992, page 4

IN BRIEF

Policeman shot dead

SYDNEY: A police weapons training instructor was fatally wounded by another officer during a gun training session yesterday.

Constable Juan Carlos Hernandez, 33, an instructor with the elite State Protection Group, died in hospital several hours after being shot in the chest at the old Police Academy at Redfern.

Constable Hernandez was supervising about 15 officers at a training session when a .38 calibre police-issue revolver discharged, wounding him in the chest.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/126959025


 

 

[blockquote]

Carl.

Juan Carlos Hernandez,
Carl was how I knew you,
I will never forget,
What you helped me through.

To walk into a room,
When I was very young,
My first days in the job,
To see death, just wrong.

I was only 19 years old,
In the job for a few weeks,
In morbid fascination,
What no one really seeks.

I stood in disbelief,
Waiting for him to breath,
But he did not move,
It was hard for me to believe.

As we left the room,
You stopped me for a while,
And asked if I was ok,
Then you gave me a smile.

A smile because you knew,
It was not one of joy,
To tell me it would be ok,
I was no longer just a boy.

Death I had just seen,
Even if for the first time,
With the strength you showed me,
I would be just fine.

In shock a few years later,
I heard you had been lost,
In a twisted circumstance,
Your family paid the cost.

You were loyal to the end,
That is what I heard,
You were the ultimate Man,
So to deny your last words, absurd.

You died loving what you did,
A Policeman you will always be,
Did not matter your end,
You are now free.

I can’t believe,
It’s over 20 years,
Since I sat with you,
Had a few beers.

For years you have rested,
In the ultimate peace,
Having died in the line of duty,
But your memory does not cease.

You will never be forgotten,
Not while I still stand,
I will never ever forget,
When as a 19 year old you held my hand.

Thank you
Brother in Blue.

Died in the line of duty
1st December 1992.

[/blockquote]

Penned by Brendo Greysie ( 2014 )

 


Police Attestation Ceremony

Speakers Cusack The Hon Catherine; Gallacher The Hon Michael
Business Questions Without Notice, QWN
POLICE ATTESTATION CEREMONY
Page: 22733

The Hon. CATHERINE CUSACK: My question is addressed to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services. Will the Minister inform the House about the newest recruits to the New South Wales Police Force?

The Hon. MICHAEL GALLACHER: I thank the honourable member for her question. Last Friday, 23 August 2013, it was my great pleasure to attend the attestation ceremony for class 319 at the Goulburn Police Academy. I assure members that the calibre of probationary constables coming through the doors of the academy to pursue challenging and rewarding careers as police officers in this State remains very high indeed. They passed the stringent physical and academic tests, and have demonstrated the commitment and character befitting their new role. These qualities were no more visible than when the commissioner’s valour award was presented to Senior Constable Justin Knight on the parade ground last Friday. The award was conferred for conspicuous merit and exceptional bravery when an offender armed with a sawn-off rifle fired at Senior Constable Knight with intent to murder on 20 January 2007 at Eveleigh Street, Redfern—the Block.

In the course of pursuing a suspect, Constable Knight alighted from his vehicle and pursued an offender on foot, calling for him to stop. The offender produced a sawn-off rifle and, despite the risk, Constable Knight continued to follow him. The offender fired a number of shots at Constable Knight, narrowly missing him. The constable felt one of the projectiles go past his arm and thought that he had been shot. Being aware of the sensitivity of the local community towards police and despite the escalated danger, Constable Knight did not respond by firing his service firearm. The offender fled the scene, but was later identified and charged with attempted murder of a police officer. The offender was subsequently convicted.

I ask members to reflect on those circumstances and whether we would have acted with the same level of commitment, bravery and judgement as Constable Knight on that occasion. Too often the community reacts to instances where police officers have been accused of wrongdoing, but the events of that night in 2007 remind us of the challenges and risks faced by officers of the NSW Police Force, in this case potentially quite deadly. I am confident that Senior Constable Knight’s example will flow through to the 161 probationary constables who attested and have joined a force with record authorised strength in this State.

A number of the new police officers deserve special mention. The winner of the Robert Brotherson award for the highest level of academic achievement was Probationary Constable Natalie Martin. The winners of the Steven Roser memorial award for the highest male and female achievers in physical training were Probationary Constable Mitchell Thompson and Probationary Constable Guilhermina El-Mir. The Juan Carlos Hernandez award, given to the student with the highest marksmanship score, went to probationary constables David Edwards, Anton Sahyoun and Shanahan Toering—all three tied for that award. Probationary Constable Toering also received the award for the highest achiever in the Simulated Policing Acquiring Competence program.

One of the many proud parents at the attestation was Detective Superintendent Arthur Katsogiannis, whose son Daniel is now a probationary constable and commences his career at City Central Local Area Command. It was terrific to see 23 members of the attestation of class 319 identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, of which 16 were graduates of the Indigenous Police Recruiting Our Way [IPROWD] program that I have spoken about in this forum. Congratulations to them. I had the pleasure of witnessing the graduation of 13 dog teams from the State Protection Group Dog Unit. Some were general purpose dogs and others, obviously, were sniffer dogs. That is good news for Byron Bay and its former mayor, the Hon. Jan Barham. The attestation parades provide an opportunity— [Time expired.]

The Hon. CATHERINE CUSACK: I ask a supplementary question. Will the Minister elucidate his answer?

The Hon. MICHAEL GALLACHER: I pay respect to the following five officers who retired from the NSW Police Force, taking with them collectively 190-plus years: Superintendent Ben Feszczuk, Detective Superintendent Col Dyson, APM, Superintendent Ray Filewood, Detective Inspector Dennis Clarke, APM, and Inspector Leslie Dickens. All five officers led the parade on Friday. It was an incredibly proud moment for them, their families and the communities they have represented in just short of 200 years of policing. As I said to the graduating class, “If you want to look for role models, look at these five as a classic example of what you can give back to a community that will give you so much more.”

 

https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LC20130827015


NSW Police Force Newly Attested Officers

Speakers Cusack The Hon Catherine; Gallacher The Hon Michael
Business Questions Without Notice, QWN
NSW POLICE FORCE NEWLY ATTESTED OFFICERS
Page: 20006

The Hon. CATHERINE CUSACK: My question is addressed to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services. Will the Minister inform the House about the newest recruits to the NSW Police Force? The Hon. MICHAEL GALLACHER: On 3 May it was a great pleasure to attend the attestation ceremony for class 318 at the Goulburn Police Academy, and I can assure the House that the calibre of probationary constables coming through the academy to pursue a challenging and rewarding career as a New South Wales police officer remains high. All attesting officers have made it through physical and academic tests, and, most importantly, they have demonstrated the commitment and character of people prepared to ensure the safety and security of the community they will serve. The 202 probationary constables who attested have joined a police force now boasting a record authorised strength of 16,176. As members opposite know full well, we have been increasing the authorised strength of the NSW Police Force since we took office. After the further increase this month of 80 positions from the May class, we have boosted the authorised strength by 370, and we are on our way to increasing the force by a total of 859 positions, to a record authorised strength of 16,665 officers in August 2015. This month 50 additional positions were added to the Police Transport Command, bringing its authorised strength to 401. We have also added 30 positions to the authorised strength of the Traffic and Highway Patrol Command, bringing it to 1,295. That makes an increase of 50 new authorised positions to this command, and that is halfway to our commitment to increase the strength of the command by 100. While another 202 probationary constables have been drawn to this career, I am equally pleased with how many officers stay in this exciting and rewarding profession. Indeed, there is such demand for a career in policing that the NSW Police Force has implemented a freeze on new applications. Members opposite have mischievously tried to claim that this is a sign of cuts to the Police Force. That is as far from the truth as members opposite could possibly get. Thanks to the Government making the necessary reforms to the Death and Disability Scheme set up by members opposite and restoring the confidence of serving police officers by ensuring that they will have the back-up they need, I am advised that attrition within the Police Force is currently averaging about 40 officers a month, down from the average of 70 under the previous administration. Therefore, it stands to reason that if fewer officers are leaving the force, fewer replacements are needed. Under Labor, the NSW Police Force was faced with more than 800 officers on long-term sick leave and officers leaving the force at such a rate that police could not recruit fast enough to plug the holes. Placing a temporary freeze on new applications will ensure that potential applicants do not need to spend application fees, which easily total $500, including on such items as medical certificates, when there is a substantial wait before their application can be considered. We are getting on with the job of ensuring that the NSW Police Force is better resourced, better equipped and better supported than ever before. Members opposite are peddling misinformation and seeking to undermine the community’s confidence in a police force experiencing record numbers. A number of the new police officers deserve special mention. The winner of the Robert Brotherson Award for the highest level of academic achievement was Probationary Constable Thomas Stillwell. The winners of the Steven Roser Memorial Award for the highest male and female achievers in physical training were Probationary Constable Adam Splithof and Probationary Constable Caitlin Billingham. The Juan Carlos Hernandez Award, given to the student with the highest marksmanship score, went to Probationary Constable Matthew Skellern. [Time expired.]

The Hon. CATHERINE CUSACK: I ask a supplementary question. Will the Minister elucidate his answer?

The Hon. MICHAEL GALLACHER: I am sure that all members would like to hear about these outstanding young probationary constables, including Probationary Constable Nathan Dechaufepie, who was the recipient of the Simulated Policing Acquiring Confidence Award. These officers can be proud of their achievements. Their families can be proud of them and, most importantly, their communities are proud of them. I am sure that the House will join me in wishing our newest police officers all the very best for their careers in the NSW Police Force.

 


 

 

Speakers MacDonald Mr Scot; Gallacher The Hon Michael
Business Questions Without Notice, QWN
POLICE GRADUATIONS
Page: 416

The Hon. SCOT MacDONALD: My question is addressed to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services. Will the Minister inform the House of the results of the latest police attestation?

The Hon. MICHAEL GALLACHER: I apologise to the House for my inability to be here last Friday. I had a very important role to fulfil as the Minister for Police and Emergency Services at the graduation of class 312 at the Police Academy in Goulburn. It was my first in my new role as Minister for Police and Emergency Services. One of the first things I had an opportunity to announce down there was clarification of the uncertainty that exists around the name of the organisation.

The Hon. Duncan Gay: It was well received.

The Hon. MICHAEL GALLACHER: It was well received. It will now return to its former name of the New South Wales Police Academy, not the police college. That announcement was very well received by the sworn officers. The attestation certainly brought back memories of when I was in a similar position, standing on the parade ground at Redfern more than 30 years ago. Whilst a lot of things have changed in policing, a lot of things have not. Obviously the equipment, the cars and the uniform have changed, but certainly one thing that has not changed is the high calibre of probationary constables coming through the academy. They are required to pass through a tough course, both physically and academically, to prove they can cut the mustard as officers in the New South Wales Police Force. Who knows, even Eric Roozendaal might apply to join the New South Wales Police Force—although he may not pass the integrity test.

They are men and women who are prepared to do their best for the people of this State and who will undertake this job on a daily basis, often in the most difficult of circumstances. The 111 probationary constables who attested at the ceremony have joined more than 15,000 officers in the Police Force. They come from all walks of life. Over 22 per cent of those who attested are women. Forty per cent come from outside metropolitan Sydney. Sixteen were born overseas, in countries such as Russia, Germany, Malaysia, China and even Botswana. They speak Arabic, Greek, Cantonese, Armenian, Dari, and Khmer. They will be posted to 59 local area commands across the State, from Albury in the south, to Richmond in the north, from Barrier in the west to the heart of Sydney. Forty-four of the officers have been assigned to non-metropolitan or rural regions.

Irrespective of where they have been posted they are on the front line. They stand between the community and the dangers of crime and other antisocial behaviour. A number of these new police officers deserve special mention. Firstly, the winner of the Robert Brotherson Award for the highest level of academic achievement was Probationary Constable Stephanie Hill. The winners of the Steven Roser Memorial Award for the highest male and female achievers in physical training were Probationary Constable John Feuerstein and Probationary Constable Sandra Chaban. The Juan Carlos Hernandez Award, given to the student with the highest marksmanship score, was Probationary Constable James Patrick. Probationary Constable Jessica Agland was the recipient of the Simulated Policing Acquiring Confidence Award.

I met some of the officers on Friday and I can confidently say that the New South Wales Police Force has a strong future. These officers can be proud of their achievements. Their family and friends can be proud of them for all the hard work they have put in to get there. The people of New South Wales can be proud of these people for choosing a selfless profession, dedicating their working lives to ensuring the safety and protection of the community. I am sure all members of the House will join me in wishing our newest police officers all the very best for their careers in the New South Wales Police Force.

https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LC20110509023?open&refNavID=HA8_1




Sharon Louise WILSON

Sharon Louise WILSON

 late of Uralla, NSW

New South Wales Police Force

Goulburn Academy Class # 236

Regd. # 25???

RankCommenced Training at Goulburn Police Academy on Sunday 8 May 1988 ( aged 19 years, 7 months, 16 days )( spent 2 months, 21 days at Academy )

Probationary Constable – appointed Friday  29 July 1988 ( aged 19 years, 10 months, 7 days )

Stations:  Leeton

Awards? Nil

Born:  Sunday  22 September 1968

Age:  20 years, 2 months, 8 days

Service:  8 May 1988 to 30 November 1988 = 6 months, 22 days Service

Cause of death:  Accidentally Shot – by collegue – Service weapon

Location of incident:  inside Leeton Police Station

Location of Death:  Wagga Wagga Base Hospital

Died:  Wednesday  30 November 1988

Funeral:  Monday  5 December 1988 @ 1pm

Funeral location?, Uralla

Buried Uralla Cemetery, Kingstown Rd, Uralla, NSW

Memorial 1:  Memorial Tree planted at NSW Police Academy, Goulburn

Memorial 2:  Memorial plate on the front outside wall of Leeton Police Station.  Dedication done on 30 November 2015.  Photos below.

Sharon Louise WILSON 1 - NSWPF - Killed 30 November 1988

Sharon Louise WILSON - centre, front row. Class 215
Sharon Louise WILSON – centre, front row. Class 215

About 2.15pm on 30 November, 1988 Constable Wilson was on duty at the Leeton Police Station when she suffered a severe gunshot wound to the head when another member’s service revolver discharged. Although treated at the scene by colleagues until the ambulance arrived, she passed away at the Wagga Base Hospital at 5.45pm the same day.

 

The constable was born in 1968 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 9 May, 1988. At the time of her death she was stationed at Leeton.


 

Touch plate at the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra
Touch plate at the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra

Sharon is mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance


 

Sharon Louise WILSON. Alan Cope ( # 23769 ? ) thanks guests for attending. Alan spoke about Sharon Wilson and her short time in Leeton.
Alan Cope ( # 23769 ? ) thanks guests for attending. Alan spoke about Sharon Wilson and her short time in Leeton.

 

Superintendent Mick Rowan # 22980 ? ) with Father Robert offer kind words. — with Robert Patrick Murphy
Superintendent Mick Rowan # 22980 ? ) with Father Robert offer kind words. — with Robert Patrick Murphy

 

Superintendent Mick Rowan unveiled the new memorial plaque.
Superintendent Mick Rowan unveiled the new memorial plaque.

 

Alan Cope closes the ceremony. 30 November 2015
Alan Cope closes the ceremony. Monday 30 November 2015

 

In Memory of Sharon WILSON. Tragically Killed On Duty 30.11.1988. Monday 30 November 2015
Dedicated:  Monday 30 November 2015

 


 

2 December 1988

“CHARGES POSSIBLE OVER SHOOTING

SYDNEY: The NSW Police Commissioner, John Avery, will decide whether charges should be laid against a constable allegedly involved in the shooting death of her 20 year-old colleague on Wednesday.

A police spokesman said yesterday a team of detectives was waiting to interview the young officer over the death of policewoman Sharon Wilson at the Leeton Police Station, in the state’s Riverina district.

He said results of the investigation would be forwarded to Mr Avery for consideration.

A police spokesman said the detectives — including two from Sydney’s Internal Affairs department, two from homicide, a ballistics expert and a police psychologist — were waiting to talk to the 19-year-old constable.

Probationary Constable Wilson was shot in the head by one bullet from a service revolver while on duty at Leeton Police Station, at 2.15pm on Wednesday.

She was rushed to Wagga Base Hospital, but died 3 1/2 hours later.

The policewoman awaiting questioning had been treated for shock and was being cared for by friends and welfare personnel, the spokesman said.

Detectives hoped to talk with her last night.

Miss Wilson, of Uralla, in the Northern Tablelands, was well known in the small community. She was regarded as a fine athlete and her 188cm frame was well known in the local basketball league.

Miss Wilson was studying visual arts at the Riverina Murray Institute of Higher Education in Wagga.

Her body will be transported to her home at Uralla, where a funeral will be held at 1pm on Monday.”

02 Dec 1988 – Charges possible over shooting – Trove


 

Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 – 1995),

Wednesday 15 March 1989, page 22

 

Second death prompts gun rule review

SYDNEY: Junior police officers could be made to leave their guns at work after a young constable accidentally killed his best friend while cleaning his service revolver at home on Monday.

An internal police investigation into the shooting would look at the controls on probationary constables’ possession of weapons, the NSW Minister for Police, Ted Pickering, said yesterday.

Constable Andrew Pearce, 20, was cleaning his .38 service revolver in the bedroom of his Greystanes home in Sydney’s west at noon on Monday when the gun discharged and hit his friend Andrew James McDonald in the chest.

Mr McDonald, a 20-year-old bank teller from Greystanes, died an hour later in Westmead Hospital.

The incident was the second fatal shooting by a probationary constable in the past four months.

Last November Probationary Constable Sheree Schneider, 19, ( ProCst # 60370 ) accidentally shot Constable Sharon Wilson in the head at Leeton police station in the Riverina region. The young constable now faces a manslaughter charge.

Acting Police Commissioner Angus Graham refused yesterday to comment on Monday’s shooting and was unable to say whether Constable Pearce, an officer with one year’s service, would be charged over the incident.

He said the fatal shooting was the subject of a full investigation by the police’s Internal Affairs Department.

“When we have these incidents we always review our arrangements,” he said.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/120916451


 

The Sydney Morning Herald

28 July 1989      p 6 of 68

‘Empty’ gun killed officer

A policewoman fatally wounded a colleague with a shot from her service revolver which she believed was empty, the Leeton Local Court, in south-west NSW, heard yesterday.

Sheree Ann Schneider ( ProCst # 60370 ), 20, of Pine Avenue, Leeton was charged with the manslaughter of Constable Sharon Louise Wilson, 20, at Leeton Police Station on November 30 last year.

Constable Wilson died of head injuries at the Wagga Wagga Base Hospital as a result of the shooting.

Constable Harvey McRae told the court that he was sitting at a computer terminal when he heard the firing pin of a police revolver strike the empty chamber.  Constable Wilson had said, “Oh God, don’t do that.  You scared the living daylights out of me”.

He said Schneider pointed the revolver toward Constable Wilson and said:  “No, it’s empty, see?”  The gun then discharged.

Schneider said she went into the sergeant’s office and re-loaded her gun.  The court heard that four live bullets and one spent one were later removed from the revolver.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19890728


 

R_27_EPILOGUE_Police

http://nswjudicialinjustice.com/Contentsfiles/R_27_EPILOGUE_Police.pdf


 

Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 – 1995),

Sunday 30 July 1989, page 4

Not guilty of manslaughter

ALBURY: A policewoman who fatally shot a colleague has been cleared of manslaughter after a hearing in the Albury District Court. Sheree Ann Schneider, 20, of Pine Ave, Leeton, was charged with the manslaughter of Sharon Louise Wilson, 20, of Leeton, who died from injuries received in the shooting.

Constable Wilson was shot in the head while speaking on the telephone in the communications room of Leeton police station on November 30 last year.

Miss Schneider gave evidence at the committal hearing on Friday.

She said she had gone to the sergeant’s office where she had unloaded her special issue five-shot .38 service revolver. She told the court she was sure five bullets had fallen from the revolver’s cylinder and into her hand.

Miss Schneider said she had left the bullets in the office and returned to the inquiry counter area.

Thinking the gun was empty, she “dry fired” it.

Miss Schneider said Constable Wilson had become frightened and said: “Oh God, don’t do that. You scared the living daylights out of me.”

She had said to Constable Wilson: “No, it’s empty, see” and then pulled the trigger “to reassure her she had nothing to worry about.” The gun had discharged.

Asked by her counsel, Mr John Dailly, what she had thought when the gun discharged, she said: “I couldn’t believe it! I was sure I had counted five bullets.”

It was not until she had returned to the sergeant’s office that she realised she had made a mistake.

Although Miss Wilson had been shot, Miss Schneider said she was unaware at the time the gun had been pointing at her colleague.

Miss Schneider said she had returned to help Miss Wilson, who lay on the floor bleeding profusely from a wound to the left temple.

She said she placed both hands over the wound to try to stop the bleeding.

The court was told Miss Schneider had received 200 minutes pistol training at the police academy and had been issued with the smaller five-shot revolver after failing her first shoot with the larger six shot model.

Mr Dailly said the shooting had been an accident.

“It was totally unintended, unexpected and unforeseen,” he said.

In discharging Miss Schneider, Magistrate Barry Wooldridge said she had made a “great mistake” when counting the bullets. But the fact remained that there was no intent on Miss Schneider‘s part, no animosity between the two and no evidence she had deliberately pointed the gun at Constable Wilson.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/122285837


 

Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 – 1995),

Tuesday 15 August 1989, page 5

IN BRIEF

DPP reviews court ruling

SYDNEY: The Director of Public Prosecutions said yesterday he would review a magistrate’s decision to dismiss a manslaughter charge against a police woman who shot dead a fellow officer.

The director, Reg Blanch, QC, said he would direct Constable Sheree Schneider to stand trial if he found that Leeton Magistrate Barry Wooldridge had made an error in judgement.

Constable Schneider, 20, shot dead Sharon Wilson, also 20, with a service revolver at Leeton police station on November 30. She said she thought the revolver was empty.

Mr Blanch said he would make a decision in four to eight weeks. Constable Schneider, suspended with pay, was to answer a charge on August 31 of using a firearm with disregard for safety.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/122276423

 


The Law—From Protector To Persecutor
From ‘Signs Of Senility‘ a chapter of ‘A Study Of Our Decline‘ by P Atkinson

(7/9/2013)

Schneider Case
In New South Wales, at Leeton police station on 30-Nov-1988, a junior policewoman produced a pistol and shot dead another officer. Sheree Ann Schneider claimed it was an accident. Satisfied the pistol was unloaded, she pulled the trigger without looking where the gun was pointed. The charge of Felonious Assault was dismissed in the lower court on 28th July 1989 under section 41 (vi) – the presiding officer ruled that no jury would convict. Use Of A Firearm In Disregard For Another Persons Safety was dismissed on 27th April 1990. The female did not even lose her job, presumably her fellow officers hope she will be more careful in future.

Court Ignores Duty
It is axiomatic with all weapons training that they never be pointed at anyone unless they are intended to be used —even in jest. Deliberately pulling the trigger without looking where the .38 pistol was pointed was criminal irresponsibility. Sharon Wilson was killed as the result of criminal negligence; a failure that should not be tolerated from any citizen, much less a police officer. Not knowing the gun was loaded is no excuse for anyone, least of all a trained professional. For the courts to fail to penalise this action is to commit more crimes; the denial of the importance of duty and the magnitude of taking a life.

The Law Repeats The Role Of Indulgent Parents
Schneider escaped penalty by adopting the infantile excuse that she was merely the hapless victim of the inadequate police weapons training program; that this was accepted by the authorities is not an aberration. Trial for murder is no longer a matter of resolving fact; it has become a re-enactment of the spoilt child caught by their indulgent parents; if the miscreant can deflect blame while generating sympathy then all is forgiven.

http://www.ourcivilisation.com/signs/chap8.htm


 

 

 




Andrew Thomas DIXON

Andrew Thomas DIXON

New South Wales Police Force

Goulburn Police Academy – Class 222

Regd. #  229 or 230??

Rank:  Commenced Training at Goulburn Police Academy on 18 August 1986

Probationary Constable – appointed 7 November 1986

Final Rank:  Probationary Constable

Stations:  Pennant Hills October 1986 to 3 June 1987

Awards:  Nil

Service:

From  18 August 1986  to  3 June 1987 = 11 months

Born: ? ? 1966

Died:  Wednesday  3 June 1987

Age:  20

Cause:  Illness – Suicide by Service firearm

Location:  at Lane Cover River Park, Lane Cove.

Funeral date?

Funeral location:

Eastwood

Grave Location:  Cremated

Memorial plaque at Northern Suburbs Crematorium, Delhi Road, North Ryde, NSW

Niche:  Row ‘TO’, plaque # 348

andrew-dixon-plague

Touch plate at the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra.

 

Touch plate at the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra.

Andrew Thomas DIXON. Plaque condition as of 8/9/2020
Andrew Thomas DIXON.   Plaque condition as of 8/9/2020

ANDREW IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance

 

In April, 1987 Constable Dixon and other police attended a serious motor vehicle accident at Mt Colah. A person trapped in the vehicle became violent when released and Constable Dixon assisted in restraining him. During the struggle the constable was covered in a considerable amount of the injured person’s blood. It was later discovered that this person suffered from HIV/AIDS. Due to stress and concern over the disease, Constable Dixon drove to the Lane Cove River Park on 3 June, 1987 and committed suicide.

The constable was born in 1966 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 18 August, 1986. At the time of his death he was stationed at Pennant Hills.



 

From Kevin Banister – I remember this very well. I was working at Pennant Hills when Andrew arrived as a fresh faced Probationary Constable. He was a fine young man built like a brick s**thouse. When he was told that the accident victim had HIV/AIDS he began to withdraw very quickly. All at the station were concerned for his welfare and tried to help where possible.

On the afternoon of 3/06/87 Andrew had worked morning shift and I was on afternoon shift. At the hand over Andrew said goodbye with a smile on his face and went home, or so I thought. I was not aware that he was supposed to be attending the PMO (Police Medical Officer) for an appointment after work. I got a call from his mother just before sundown to say that Andrew had not come home and were concerned for his welfare. Pennant Hills was a Rescue Squad/General duties station at the time and I was the senior operator rostered on. I made a number of phone calls including to the Lane Cove station and Marrickville Rescue base. Not long after we received info that Andrew’s car had been located in a dead end street off Delhi Road beside the Lane Cove river.

As a result I and my offsider Bob Hanson attended in the Rescue vehicle. Numerous other Police vehicles arrived along with the Water Police. I organised a number of search parties and headed into the scrub towards the river. Reached the riverbank and saw that the Water Police had also began a search in the area we were in. Again, a short time later I and my offsider found the body of Andrew with his service revolver by his side. I indicated to the Water Police to come over (not using the radio) and told them that they were no longer required. The boat crew saluted and left the scene. A discrete message was sent to the command post as I knew that his parents were at the post and could hear the radio transmissions.

When we emerged from the bush with Andrew’s body many of the Police were in tears as he was a local boy and well known. His funeral was standing room only and the street blocked off for the overflow. During the period of the time of the accident and Andrew’s death he had a number of blood samples taken, but due to the technology of the time he was told that it could be some time before they knew if he had became infected. About a month after his death we were informed that he had not become infected. R.I.P. my friend.

 

Andrew Thomas DIXON

Andrew Thomas DIXON

 

 


 




Leslie Andrew NASH

Leslie Andrew NASH

New South Wales Police Force

Late of 6 Clarence St, Penshurst, NSW

 

Regd. #  ????

Uniform #  87A or 97A

 

Rank:  Commenced Training at ? Academy on Tuesday 5 April 1921

Probationary Constable – appointed ? ? ?

Constable 1st Class – appointed ? ? ?

 

Final Rank: Constable 1st Class

 

StationsParramatta ( 1924 ), Sutherland, Hurstville ( 1928 – 1935 )

 

ServiceFrom 5 April 1921 to 15 April 1935 = 14 years, 0 months, 10 days Service

Awards?

Constable Leslie Nash ( 1935 )
Constable Leslie Nash ( 1935 )

Born:  22 December 1898 in Parkes, NSW

Died: Monday  15 April 1935

CauseIllness – Suicide- service revolver

Age:  36 years, 3 months, 24 days

 

Event locationHurstville Police Station

 

Funeral dateTuesday  16 April 1935

Funeral locationSt Declan’s Church, Penshurst @ 2.30pm

 

Buried atWoronora Cemetery, Sutherland

Grave Location:  Roman Catholic Monumental Section 3 – Plot: 0493

In Loving Memory of our dear father and mother. Leslie Andrew NASH, Died 15 April 1935 aged 37 years. Catherine Sarah NASH, Died 2 June 1959, aged 56 years. R.I.P.
In Loving Memory of our dear father and mother. Leslie Andrew NASH, Died 15 April 1935 aged 37 years. Catherine Sarah NASH, Died 2 June 1959, aged 56 years. R.I.P.

Coroners InquestTuesday  30 April 1935

 

 LESLIE is NOT mentioned on the National Police Wall of Remembrance ( 2021 )  * BUT SHOULD BE

 

Constable Nash is thought to have been shot to death, possibly while on duty, on 15 April, 1935. It was thought that he had committed suicide however little is known about this incident and to some extent it remains a mystery.

The Hurstville Propeller newspaper dated 18 April, 1935 published the following article.

 

CONSTABLE FOUND SHOT AT HURSTVILLE POLICE STATION.

First-Class Constable Leslie Andrew Nash, station officer at the Hurstville Police Station, was found dead at the station early on Monday morning. Constable Nash commenced duty at 5 a.m. Constable Harvey left the station and when he returned Nash was missing. A search revealed his body in the bathroom attached to the station. Nash’s service revolver was nearby.

 

The Sydney Morning Herald of 16 April, 1935 added a bit more to the story.

POLICEMAN FOUND SHOT. Constable Leslie Andrew Nash, 38, was found dead in the bathroom at the Hurstville Police Station yesterday morning with a bullet wound in his head. A revolver was found nearby. Nash was to have sat for an examination yesterday morning and had been in ill-health for some time. For the last eight years, Nash, who was a first class constable with 14 years service, had been stationed at Hurstville and was well liked and respected in the district. He had previously been stationed at Sutherland. He is survived by a widow and five children.

The constable was born in 1897 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 5 April, 1921. At the time of his death he was stationed at Hurstville.


 

Newcastle Morning Herald & Miners’ Advocate

Tuesday  30 April 1935   P9

 

WORRIED OVER LECTURES

Constable Committed Suicide

SYDNEY, Monday,

Forgetting what he had been told at lectures, Constable Leslie Nash, 37, committed suicide at Hurstville Police Station on April 15.

At the inquest today, Constable James Harvey said that Nash told him that he was worrying over a departmental examination that day, and had forgotten what he had been told.

Returning a verdict of suicide, the Coroner said that the case was very sad.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/rendition/nla.news-article139251811.txt


 

Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser (NSW : 1856 – 1861; 1863 – 1889; 1891 – 1954),

Monday 15 April 1935, page 1

CONSTABLE SUICIDES

Strain of ill-Health Too Great

Sydney, Monday.

Constable Leslie Andrew Nash (38), was found dead at the Hurstville Police Station early this morning with a gun shot wound in the head.

He was acting as station officer. It appears that the man, who had been in ill health, had been told that he would have to undergo a serious operation. Some time later he was missing, and a search resulted in the discovery of his body in the bathroom attached to the station, with a revolver lying nearby.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/rendition/nla.news-article192714831.txt


 

News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 – 1954),

Monday 15 April 1935, page 4

 

CONSTABLE FOUND DEAD AT STATION

Advised of Operation

SYDNEY, Monday. – Shot in the head,.

Constable Leslie Andrew Nash. aged 38, was today found dead at the Hurstville Police Station, where he had performed duty as station officer.

Nash, who has been in ill health and had been told that he would have to undergo a serious operation, began duty at 5 a.m. He asked Constable Harvey to go on an errand, and when Harvey returned Nash was missing.

A search revealed his body in the bath room attached to the station. His service revolver was nearby.

Nash left a widow and four children.

He had been in the force for 14 years and was a first-class constable.

Today he was to have sat for an examination, which his inspector said he would have passed without the slightest difficulty.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/rendition/nla.news-article128816003.txt


 

The Sydney Morning Herald

Tuesday  16 April 1935   p 9

NA8H.- H.A.C.B.S. St. DECLAN’S BRANCH, No. 659.- The Officers and Members of the above Branch are requested to attend the Funeral of their late Bro.. LESLIE A. NASH: to leave St. Declan’s Catholic Church. Penshurst, THIS DAY. at 2.30 p.m., for Woronora Cemetery. By road.

W. J. MEACHMAN. Tres.

R. J. MADDEN. Sec.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/rendition/nla.news-article17166023.txt

 


Further reading:  https://www.australianpolice.com.au/woronora-cemetery-wall-of-remembrance/


 

The Coroners Inquest returned a verdict of “Effects of a bullet wound in his head, wilfully self inflicted

Inquest was concluded on 29 April 1935.


In the attached photo, his Uniform #  is 87A or 97A.

The ‘ A ‘ used to depict the District that the member was attached to.  ‘ A ‘ District was Sydney – so he may, at the time of the photo being taken, have been stationed at one of the Sydney CBD Stations.


 

NSWBDM

Birth   =   6089/1898             Father = Patrick                 Mother = Amelia             District = Parkes

Marriage = 2105/1925           Bride  = McDonnell or MacDonnell                           District = Kempsey

Death =   7008/1935              Father = Patrick                 Mother = Amelia             District = Hurstville


 

Leslie Andrew Nash (1898 – 1935)

Leslie Andrew Nash
Born in Parkes, New South Wales, Australiamap

Ancestors ancestors

Husband of Sara Catherine Ellen McDonnell — married [date unknown] [location unknown]
[children unknown]
Died at age 36 in Hurstville, New South Wales, Australiamap
Problems/Questions Profile manager: Rita Kidd private message [send private message]
Profile last modified
This page has been accessed 33 times.

Biography

Leslie was born in 1898, the son of Patrick and Amelia, Leslie married on 10 Jan 1925 to Catherine McDonnell. Leslie was a First Class Constable Leslie passed away 15 Apr 1935 (aged 36)

Sources

  • NSW BDM
  • BIRTH NASH LESLIE A 6089/1898 PATRICK AMELIA PARKES
  • MARRIAGE 2105/1925 NASH LESLIE A MCDONNELL CATHERINE KEMPSEY
  • DEATH NASH LESLIE A 7008/1935 PATRICK AMELIA HURSTVILLE
  • RYERSON INDEX
  • NASH Leslie Andrew Death notice 15APR1935 Death 37 at Hurstville, late of Penshurst Sydney Morning Herald 16APR1935
  • The Sydney Morning Herald NSW 1842 – 1954

Tue 16 Apr 1935 DEATH NASH-April 15, 1835, suddenly, at Hurstville, Leslie Andrew, of 6 Clarence-street, Penshurst, dearly beloved husband of Catherine and father of Pat, Francis , Alma, John and Peter aged 37 years. Requiescat in pace.

The Sydney Morning Herald NSW 1842 – 1954 Tue 16 Apr 1935 Page 9 FUNERAL NASH.-The Relatives and Friends of Mrs. CATHERINE NA8H and FAMILY are kindly Invited to attend the Funeral of her dearly beloved HUSBAND and their FATHER. First Class Constable Leslie Andrew Nash: which will leave St. Declan’s Church. Penshurst, THIS TUESDAY, at 2.30 p.m., for the Catholic Cemetery. Woronora. Mrs. P. KIRBY and SON. LTD.. Leadlng Funeral Directors. phone, M2221-2. 263 Elizabeth-street, Sydney.

NASH.-‘The Friends of Mr. WILLIAM ROSS are kindly invited to attend the Funeral of his friend, the Late Mr. Leslie A. Nash: lo leave St. Declan’s Church. Penshurst, THIS DAY (Tues day. For further details please see above notice.

NASH.- H.A.C.B.S. St. DECLAN’S BRANCH, No. 659.-The Officers and Members of the above Branch are requested to attend the Funeral of their late Bro.. LESLIE A. NASH: to leave St. Declan’s Catholic Church. Penshurst, THIS DAY. at 2.30 p.m., for Woronora Cemetery. By road. W. J. MEACHMAN. Tres. R. J. MADDEN. Sec.

  • NASH Leslie Andrew Death notice 16APR1935 Death at Hurstville Sydney Morning Herald 22APR1935
  • The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954)

Mon 22 Apr 1935 Page 8 Family Notices

  • DEATH

NASH.—April 16 (suddenly), at Hurstville, Les- lie Andrew, beloved brother, brother-in-law, and darling uncle of Bob, Rene, and Aileen.

  • Death aged 37 at Hurstville, late of Penshurst
  • BURIAL Woronora Memorial Park

Sutherland, Sutherland Shire, New South Wales, Australia PLOT RC 3 0493

  • MEMORIAL ID 180629133

 

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Leslie Andrew Nash (1898-1935) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree