Funeral Location: Castlebrook Garden Chapel, Windsor Road, Rouse Hill, NSW
Buried at: ?
Grave GPS: ?
Memorial: NSW Police force Service Memorial Wall, Sydney Police Centre, Surry Hills, F4 ( Right Wall )
GARDENER, Adam Stuart
Passed away peacefully on 1st March, 2014
Late of Parklea
Dearly beloved husband of Gail,
loved and cherished father of Brendan, Bree and Caleb.
Much loved and adored son of Pam and John,
son-in-law to Sandra and Neil,
loving brother-in-law to Susie, Mitch and Belinda.
Will also be sadly missed by all his family, extended family and friends.
Aged 28 Years
Taken from us too soon, forever in our hearts”
Relatives and friends of ADAM are warmly invited to attend his Funeral Service to be held in the Castlebrook Garden Chapel, Windsor Road, Rouse Hill on Saturday, 8th March, 2014 commencing at 12noon.
GARDENER, Adam Stuart Passed away peacefully on1st March, 2014 Late of Parklea Dearly beloved husband of Gail, loved and cherished father of Brendan, Bree and Caleb. Much loved and adored son of Pam and John, son-in-law to Sandra and Neil, loving brother-in-law to Susie, Mitch and Belinda. Will also be sadly missed by all his family, extended family and friends. Aged 28 Years”Taken from us too soon, forever in our hearts”Relatives and friends of ADAM are warmly invited to attend his Funeral Service to be held in the Castlebrook Garden Chapel, Windsor Road, Rouse Hill on Saturday, 8th March, 2014 commencing at 12noon.
– See more at: http://tributes.dailytelegraph.com.au/notice/27002242/view#sthash.rjJNlhz4.dpuf
A few days ago I told of the sudden and unexpected death of one of our own, Adam Gardener.
Adam was only twenty eight and not in his early thirties as I first thought. A wife and young family made it all the more tragic, tragic beyond words.
Adam was buried today in a very moving and massively attended funeral in Rouse Hill.
The NSW Police did him and itself proud.
I mention this tonight to tell you that Superintendent Wayne Cox, the Local Area Commander for Parramatta, Adams station, gave all his people last night, today and tonight off on Special Leave to enable those wishing to the time to attend.
With all the talk these days of the ever precious budget and the penny pinching that Commanders are forced to do, I can’t help but feel that this altruistic gesture stands out.
I know I’d go a little further for a boss like that.
RIP Adam.
Adam was diagnosed with lymphoma about two weeks prior to his death and passed away from a heart attack as there was a growth from the disease on his heart.
At the time of his passing, his best mate and his wife were with him.
May Adam forever Rest In Peace.
Darrell Edward Thomas SOUTHAM
| 10/03/2014
Darrell Edward Thomas SOUTHAM
New South Wales Police Force
[alert_yellow]Regd. # 7603[/alert_yellow]
Rank: Probationary Constable – appointed 10 August 1953
Darrell Southam from Wollongong past away 14 years ago today.
He was Respected by a lot in the Force of Wollongong and known by many other Stations around NSW.
He was one heck of a good man and Friend to many and to those who knew him well, would know he was an an old school Copper dealing with the changes that laid ahead in the Force.
At home he was a loud bugger that had to deal with 7 girls and 1 boy but dam he was a good Dad.
He was a man you could talk about anything with and he’d always have a huge bear hug for you when you needed one. A good friend to me and all my mates…
And then have a beer with you and later be laughing hard till you had tears rolling down your face.
I love you miss you DAD and think of you everyday xxx
POLICE SEND OFF HELD AT THE ILLAWARRA YACHT CLUB. SGT DARRELL SOUTHAM (WOLLONGONG) APRIL 1988
Reg and Darrell SOUTHAM
Prior to Retirement, Darrell worked out of the Wollongong Police Station Prosecutors Office.
In those days, of the ” old ” Police station ( which was at the same location as the current station ) there were two buildings. The Prosecutors building was on ground level next to the, then, main entry to the Court house – whereas the main Police station was below ground level as Church St sloped away.
The Prosecutors officer was on top of the Breath Analysis Room. There was a wooden walkway from the Prosecutors door to the footpath and you would often find Darrell out there rolling a cigarette.
A bloody nice bloke.
May you forever Rest In Peace mate.
Cal
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Ray Clifford SCHUBERG
| 10/03/2014
Ray Clifford SCHUBERG
New South Wales Police Force
Class 195 from Redfern Academy
[alert_yellow]Regd. # 20999[/alert_yellow]
Rank: Probationary Constable – appointed 3 June 1983
Constable 1st Class – appointed 3 June 1988
Senior Constable – death
Stations: Mona Vale ( 1983 ), Warilla, Albion Park
Service: From? ? pre June 1983?to 24 November 1997 = 13+ years Service
Memorial Location: NSW Police Memorial Wall – Police Centre, Sydney – details were added to Wall at the 2nd dedication ceremony on Sunday 25 September 2016
Ray SCHUBERG
[alert_blue]RAY is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_blue] * NOT JOB RELATED
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Senior Constable Ray Schuberg died about 5.30pm on the 24 November 1997 when life support was turned off at Wollongong Hospital after being bashed by Christopher O’Rourke who is a football coach for Figtree, during the early hours of Sunday morning, 23 November, 1997, in Crown St, Wollongong.
Ray was Off Duty at the time of the event and struck his head on the footpath after being punched by O’Rourke.
IT will be mate against mate on Sunday when the Wollongong branch of the NSW Police Association holds its second annual charity rugby league match in North Wollongong.The match, for the Chief Inspector Graham Donnelly Memorial Cup, pits the Wollongong Police Station Falcons against the Lake Illawarra Police Station Lions to help raise funds for NSW Police Legacy and local PCYCs.
Several trophies will be presented on the day along with the Chief Inspector Graham Donnelly Memorial Cup.
They are for the Sergeant Nick Skomarow Player of Match, Senior Constable Ray Shuberg Memorial Touch Game and the Sergeant Colin Stevenson Memorial Tug of War.
All trophies are named after police officers who had died in the last decade.
Part of the proceeds of the day go to help the families, widows and children, of these officers.
Recent wet weather meant the game has been moved to the soccer ground near the PCYC in North Wollongong. The gates will now open at 2pm on Sunday with the main game starting at 3pm.
Sergeant Robert Minns said it was also a family day with activities for children and a display of new and vintage police vehicles.
“Last year we raised $6000 with the goal of $10,000 this year.
“It is a gold coin donation to come and watch,” Sgt Minns said.
He said PCYC did great work in the community and the NSW Policy Legacy helped hundreds of people each year.
He said it helped a lot more people than many realised.
WOLLONGONG and Lake Illawarra police officers battled it out during a sports day to honour fallen comrades and raise funds.
The Graeme Donnelly Memorial Cup Fund-raiser for Police Legacy (Police Bushfire Appeal) and PCYC on October 22 drew more than 800 spectators and raised almost $6000.
The event was a fitting memorial day for Kiama’s Chief Inspector Graeme Donnelly, Sergeant Nick Skomarow and Senior Constable Ray Schuberg.
It involved a fierce tug-of-war won by the heavyweight Wollongong team, which had three members weighing more than 120 kilograms each. The Wollongong team also won the Senior Constable Ray Schuberg Memorial touch football game.
Senior Constable Schuberg died in 1997, and a memorial trophy was made in his honour for touch football between the emergency services, but hasn’t been played since 2002.
The main game of rugby league featured Wollongong recruiting guest player, former Australian representative Paul McGregor, while the Lake Illawarra team turned to former Australian halfback John Simon.
Both teams had a few other ring-ins and the game was played hard, like police football used to be played.
The Wollongong Falcons did well to hold out a strong Lake team and win the game by only two points. The Sergeant Nick Skomarow Man of the Match award went to Fletcher Wyver.
Inspector Donnelly and Sergeant Skomarow‘s families attended and presented the awards.
Publication: Wollongong Advertiser
Section: Sport
Page: 39
Wollongong and Lake Illawarra police officers battled it out during a recent sports day to honour fallen comrades and raise funds for worthy organisations.The Graeme Donnelly Memorial Cup Fund-raiser for Police Legacy (Police Bushfire Appeal) and PCYC on October 22 drew more than 800 spectators and raised almost $6000.The day was a fitting memorial day for Kiama’s Chief Inspector Graeme Donnelly (Wollongong Local Area Command), Sergeant Nick Skomarow (Wollongong LAC) and Senior Constable Ray Schuberg.The fun included a fierce tug-of-war competition won by the Wollongong team, which had three members weighing more than 120 kilograms each.
The Wollongong team also won the Senior Constable Ray Schuberg Memorial touch footy game.
Senior Constable Schuberg tragically died in 1997 and a memorial trophy was made in his honour for touch footy between the emergency services but it hasn’t been played for since 2002.
Organisers were “thrilled” to use the trophy again and remember “a good copper who loved his touch footy”.
In the main game of rugby league Wollongong recruited former Australian representative Paul McGregor, while the Lake Illawarra team turned to former Australian halfback John Simon.
Both teams had a few other “ring-ins” and the game was played hard and tough, like police footy used to be.
The Wollongong Falcons did well to hold out a strong Lake team and win the game by only two points.
The Sergeant Nick Skomarow Man of the Match award went to Fletcher Wyver.
The families of Inspector Donnelly and Sergeant Skomarow attended the event and were presented awards.
On 22 October the Wollongong and Lake Illawarra Branches of PANSW conducted a sports day. The day was fitting memorial day for C/Insp Graeme Donnelly, Sergeant Nick Skomarow as well as the late S/Cst Ray Schuberg. The captains of the teams were Phil Bunker for Wollongong and Paul Winston for Lake Illawarra. Both members did a great job in putting the teams together and playing their part in organising the event.
There were close to 800 spectators on the day when the main game started with approximately $6000 dollars raised. Most of this money went to Police Legacy and moved into the Police Bush Fire Appeal. An amount was donated to the local PCYC club as well. There were some great local sponsors of the day including H.Parsons Funeral Directors, Collegians Rugby League Club, PANSW Panel Solicitor Chris Nikolovski Lawyers, Cleary Bros, West Wollongong Rotary and other local companies.
The day involved a Tug a War competition. The Wollongong team stacked with nine members who were all over the 100kg mark. The Wollongong team made the tonne and some more on top. The Lake team had no chance with an average weight of about 85kg except a couple of their team but they know who they are. Wollongong team defeated the Lake team in record time but when it was suggested it should be the best of five attempts both teams walked off exhausted. The Captain of the Wollongong Team Anthony Collier, when he received the trophy, acknowledged the good fight the Lake team put up but they had no chance against the big Wollongong Team.
The next part of the day was the S/Cst Ray Schuberg Memorial Touch Footy Game. Ray worked at Wollongong. He was a great street Police Officer and a good bloke who loved his touch footy. Ray tragically died in 1997 and a memorial trophy was made in his honour for touch footy between the emergency services but hasn’t been played since 2002. This was a great time to use the trophy again and remember a good copper that Ray was.
Again this was a hard fought game with a speedy Brain Rice and Pete Roncato the standouts for the winning Wollongong Team. Daryl Smith formed Lake and now PTC and Cate Johnston from the PCYC were the standouts for the Lake Team.
The game was won by Wollongong with all members again looking pretty exhausted. The captain of the winning team Darrell Buckman, who wasn’t working at Wollongong when Ray died but was informed of the tragic circumstances of his death, stated it was a great honour to play in the touch footy game and to honour and remember Ray.
The main game of rugby league was one tough game with some massive hits ups which got the emotions of both teams boiling over at times. It was played like rugby league of old, nothing fancy. The Wollongong Team’s guest player was former Australian centre Paul McGregor who has still got it. The Lake Illawarra Team had former Australian half back John Simmon who still has the ball skills. The coaches were Commissioned Officer Delegate Brian Wyver who was the patron on the day and Life Member of the Wollongong Falcons Police Rugby League Club. Wollongong also had Former Sgt Barry Doherty as manager and Joe Davidson as head masseur who is the father of two NSW Police Officers, Jackie and Matt. Lake coach was Det/Sgt Steve Worthington who was a tough second rower in first grade for the Illawarra Steelers in his youth.
Both teams had a few “ring ins” along the way, which made the game even more interesting. The score went back and forth over the three quarters of 20 minutes each with Paul and John weaving their magic for both teams. Due to the high intensity and the average age of both teams there were a lot of bench changes. In the end the Wollongong Falcons won by two points which showed how close the game was.
The Sgt Nick Skomarow Man of the Match award went to Fletcher Wyver. Captain Phil Bunker took possession of the Graeme Donnelly Memorial Cup and thanked all the players for their efforts and for the big turnout by the spectators.
The families of Graeme and Nick were in attendance with Graeme’s son Brad Dean playing a good strong game. Graeme’s wife Kerry was presented with Graeme’s Police Board and Nick’s wife Coralie was presented with a framed “Wall to Wall” board. It was great game and a great day for a great cause.
The second annual Graeme Donnelly Cup will be held on Sunday the 10th of August 2014 and will no doubt be bigger and better than last year.
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
KERRYis 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 )
Michael John WATKINS
| 10/03/2014
Michael John WATKINS
New South Wales Police – Retired
Police Academy Class 207
Regd # ?
Inspector
Stations: Pennant Hills Rescue / GD’s
Born 17 April 1953
Died 14 April 2012
58 years
Illness: Brain tumor
Gladesville, NSW
Funeral 20 April 2012
WATKINS, Michael John.
Retired Inspector of New South Wales Police Force
April 14, 2012,
of Gladesville.
Dearly loved husband of Carolyn, much loved father and father-in-law of Kylie and Stuart, Craig (deceased), Peter and Nicole. Delighted grand- father of William and Elsie. Dearly loved brother, brother-in-law, uncle and friend.
Aged 58 years.
Resting peacefully in Gods loving care.
Always in our hearts.
Concelebrated Mass of Christian Burial for
MR MICHAEL JOHN WATKINS will be offered in the Church of St Charles Borromeo, 582 Victoria Road, Ryde, on Friday (April 20, 2012), to commence at 10.30 am.
The funeral will leave the church at the conclusion of Mass for Macquarie Park Cemetery, corner of Delhi and Plassey Roads, North Ryde.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, would be appreciated.
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 attemptedsuicide 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 commissionerPeter 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.
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 nosuggestion 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.
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.’
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.
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.
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 walkingthrough 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.”
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.
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.
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 unfairpromotion 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 muchyounger 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 shothimself 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.
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. MICKKENNEDY: 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!!
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.
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.
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.
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
( 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
Photo Credit: Lynn Lucas – Sept. 2022
Memorial / Plaque / Monument located at: ?
Dedication date of Memorial / Plaque / Monument: Nil – at this time ( April 2022 )
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.
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.
Newcastle Anglican diocese business manager John Cleary’s work is his late detective brother’s legacy
By Joanne McCarthy
Updated December 6 2017 – 7:12pm, first published November 23 2016 – 11:00am
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.
The rest of this story is behind a pay wall with the Newcastle Herald.
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.
Suffered: Diabetes mellitus Type II, Hypertension, Depression, Lumbar Disc disease
Event location: Bass Highway at Wiltshire, Tasmania
Age: 62 years, 11 months, 14 days
Funeral date: Friday 14 December 2012 @ 10am
Funeral location: Star of the Sea Catholic Church, Marshall St, Stanley, Tasmania
Buried at:
Memorial location:
BOB is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance * NOT JOB RELATED
IT IS WITH DEEP RESPECT & SADNESS THAT I LET YOU ALL KNOW OF THE PASSING OF RETIRED SENIOR CONSTABLE ROBERT “BOBBY” PAYTON, FORMER PT KEMBLA WATER POLICEMAN WHO WAS, ON SATURDAY MORNING, KILLED IN A MOTOR CYCLE COLLISION IN TASMANIA WHERE HE LIVED WITH HIS WIFE ON A LAVENDER FARM.
BOBBY WAS A MUCH LIKED BLOKE IN THE ILLAWARRA.
Ulverstone man dies in crash at Wiltshire Save
Dec. 8, 2012, 9:31 a.m.
The scene of a fatal accident near Wiltshire.
A 62-YEAR-OLD Ulverstone man is dead after his motorcycle collided with a car on the Bass Highway at Wiltshire this morning.
In a statement released this afternoon Police said they believe a car being driven east by a 47-year-old Devonport man was overtaking a removalist truck when it collided with a scooter, travelling in the opposite direction, ridden by the Ulverstone man.
As a result of the collision the rider was thrown from the scooter and died at the scene before paramedics arrived.
The driver of the car was uninjured, but taken to the Smithton Hospital for observation.
The name of the Ulverstone man has not yet been released.
An inquest has been opened into the matter.
Police would like to speak with anyone who may have witnessed the crash or any of the vehicles involved to contact Burnie Police Station or the Police Assistance number on 131444.
SAD LOSS: John Westergreen and Bob Payton work on the extensions to the Central Coast Community Shed. Looking on is John’s father, Frank. Mr Payton was killed in a road accident on Saturday. Picture: Grant Wells.
ON SATURDAY, the Central Coast community lost a man who spent his whole life serving people.
Bob Payton was killed when the scooter he was riding and a car collided near Wiltshire in Circular Head.
He was five minutes from his Forest farm, where he spent most weekends while living at Ulverstone.
Mr Payton was a volunteer and committee member with both the Central Coast Community Shed and the Men’s Shed, which share the same building at the Ulverstone Showgrounds.
Outgoing Men’s Shed president Len Blair said members were shattered when the news of Mr Payton’s death filtered through.
“We’re all struggling here. Many of the members are very upset.
“Bob was a fantastic volunteer and spent countless hours at the shed and will be sadly missed,” Mr Blair said yesterday.
The Men’s Shed held a committee meeting about the shed’s future after Mr Payton’s death.
Members were full of praise for Mr Payton’s work and the time he gave to the project.
He was the second-in- charge of the recent building works at the shed, which saw it double its work space at the showgrounds.
“I guess in a way it was good Bob got to see the shed get to the lock-up stage. He spent so many hours down here to try and get it finished.
“He was the sort of man who would do anything to help out and that’s what his entire life was.
“Bob was a police officer in New South Wales for 20 odd years and has always been a big part of the community. There was nothing he would say no to, he was just full of energy.”
The Men’s Shed members were to have their Christmas party on Friday, but it’s likely Mr Payton’s funeral will be held the same day.
“We have postponed our Christmas party until a later date, which will now become a memorial for Bob.”
PAYTON –
Mass of Christian Burial for the late Mr Robert John (Bob) Payton will be celebrated at the Star of the Sea Catholic Church, Marshall St, Stanley at 10 a.m. on FRIDAY, December 14, 2012.
Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend.
A CORONER has found that a driver overtaking on the wrong side of the Bass Highway killed a scooter rider in a head-in collision.
Coroner Olivia McTaggart released her findings into the death of rider Robert John Payton, 62, on Monday.
Mr Payton died on December 8, 2012 on the Bass Highway, Wiltshire on the North-West Coast.
The retired policeman was riding a motor scooter and died instantly when Clinton Lee Chauvin, who was driving on the wrong side of the road, hit his vehicle head-on.
About 8am on the day, Chauvin, driving a Mitsubishi wagon, decided to overtake an old, slow-moving truck and crossed over onto the wrong side of the road to do so.
Coroner McTaggart said this overtaking manoeuvre at that point was unnecessary.
“A long straight section of road was ahead which would have, if clear, been significantly more suitable for an overtaking manoeuvre,” she said.
“Most unfortunately, Mr Chauvin did not see Mr Payton’s scooter until he was in his incorrect lane and did not have any ability to avoid the crash.
“A prudent driver intending to overtake would have paid closer attention to the presence of oncoming vehicles.
“Additionally, Mr Chauvin placed himself in a position too close to the truck to have a proper view and overtook it despite such impaired view.
“The evidence also indicates that Mr Chauvin, when he was travelling further back from the truck had the opportunity to see the scooter on the road ahead but did not do so.”
Ms McTaggart said Mr Payton’s riding was appropriate at all material times.
“I find that Mr Chauvin contributed to Mr Payton’s cause of death by entering the incorrect lane in which Mr Payton was travelling on his scooter at a time when he had no clear view ahead, and in circumstances of failing to keep a proper lookout for oncoming vehicles,” she said.
“The circumstances of Mr Payton’s death are a tragic reminder of the dangers of overtaking another vehicle by travelling in the oncoming lane.”
Chauvin was charged with having caused the death of another person by negligent driving and overtaking when unsafe to do so.
He pleaded guilty to these charges on September 16, 2013 in the Burnie Magistrates Court.
Magistrate Don Jones jailed Chauvin for three months, wholly suspended for two years, and disqualified him from driving for eight months.
Belinda: Roadside memorial put up today ( Thursday 5 December 2013 ) , it’s been 68 days today beautiful, and I’ve missed you for every second of it, in the words of Pink Floyd . . . How I wish, how I wish you were here Belinda was the girlfriend of Lee Greck at the time of his untimely death on 28 September 2013. This memorial has been placed at the intersection of Old Lilypool Rd and Pacific Hwy, South Grafton. Lee Greck was nicknamed ‘Matthew Flinders’ by Belinda and her family because Lee was always off exploring on his motor bike. At the top of the monument is Lee ( Greck ), Triumph ( his motor bike ) Bel ( Belinda ). A lovely monument by a lovely person who loved the man deeply. Cal
On Saturday 28 September 2013, about 6.40pm, retired NSW Police Officer Lee George GRECK was riding his motor cycle and stopped at the ‘T’ intersection of Old Lilypool Rd and the Pacific Hwy, Grafton. He was seen to look in both directions before pulling out into the path of a north bound vehicle which was travelling upon the Pacific Hwy at an estimated 100kph.
As a result of the impact, Lee died at the scene.
Lee, being born on 5 March 1961, was 52 years of age and worked at various locations including Cabramatta, Fairfield, Wollongong and was last stationed at Batemans Bay from where he retired, after serving 22 years in “the job” on the 11 May 2000.
At the time of Lee’s death, he was living in Glenugie, a small hamlet near Grafton.
Lee joined the NSWPF as a Police Cadet, number 3350, on the 4 July 1977, and did his training at the Redfern Police Academy, Sydney, NSW.
Lee was also the victim of a common assault about 6 months earlier which recently failed at court.
A funeral service will be held to honour Lee on Tuesday 28 September 2013, from 11.30am at the Holy Family Catholic Church, at the intersection of Vincent & Green St’s, Ulladulla with Police Guard of Honour from Shoalhaven Police.
Fatal crash – South Grafton
Saturday, 28 September 2013 09:39:46 PM
An investigation is underway following a fatal crash at South Grafton.
Emergency services were called to the Pacific Highway, near the Bom Bom State Forest, about 7pm today (Saturday 28 September 2013) after a motorcycle and car collided.
Police have been told the motorcyclist was struck by the northbound car as he was turning onto the Pacific Highway from Old Lilypool Road.
The rider died at the scene. He has not yet been formally identified.
The driver of the car has been taken to hospital to undergo mandatory blood and urine testing.
Two other vehicles are believed to have struck the motorcyclist after the initial collision. Those drivers have also been taken to hospital for mandatory tests.
Officers from Coffs/Clarence Local Area Command have commenced inquiries into the incident.
They’re appealing for anyone who witnessed it, or the events leading up to it, to contact investigators.
The funeral service for the late Lee George Greck will commence at 11:30 am on Tuesday, 15 October 2013 at Ulladulla Catholic Church, to be followed by a committal service at Sandridge Cemetery. Please contact Milton Ulladulla Funeral Services for further information.
