On 4 April, 2005 Constable Lees was driving along the Federal Highway, just south of Goulburn, on his way to Queanbeyan Police Station to commence duty. As his vehicle was negotiating a series of bends at Yarra, the vehicle left the roadway and collided with a tree, fatally injuring the constable.
The constable was born in 1967 and was sworn in as a probationary constable on 20 December, 2002. At the time of his death he was stationed at Queanbeyan.
How lucky we were and very proud too, to have such a wonderful son as you.
This day is remembered and quietly kept, for the memories of you Graeme, we will never forget.
So deeply loved, so sadly missed Mum & Dad
Published in Goulburn Post on Apr. 3, 2019
His light will always shine
6/04/2005 10:39:38 AM
ONE of the city’s shining lights and a mentor within the police community has lost his life in a single-vehicle accident on the Federal Highway on Monday morning.
Constable Graeme John Lees‘ death has shocked and saddened the Goulburn community who knew him as a loyal and caring person, an accomplished cricketer and hockey player, a tall man with a big heart and an easy going nature.
The 37-year-old was travelling from his Eastgrove home to work at Queanbeyan police station on Monday when his car left a straight section of the southbound lane of the Federal Highway, 1km north of Rowes Lagoon, at about 5am.
His light-coloured Commodore sedan careered down a slight embankment and crashed into a tree in a paddock on the western side of the road. Police said he was killed instantly.
A motorist discovered the accident and contacted emergency services shortly after 6am.
A full investigation by the Dapto crash investigation unit is underway for the NSW coroner.
Goulburn born and bred, Mr Lees was the only son of John and Diana Lees of Kelso St, sister to Michelle and a loving father. He attended Goulburn South Primary and Goulburn High schools and worked in several jobs before training as a psychiatric nurse.
He was a giant in the local sporting community, having played through the local and representative hockey and cricket ranks, forming enduring friendships along the way.
Graeme LEES passed away in Goulburn, New South Wales. The obituary was featured in Goulburn Post on April 1, 2019.
There’s not a day goes by that I don’t think of you!
You would so proud of the boys.
What an AMAZING guy you were & the lessons you taught me along the way!
And although our marriage didn’t work I was so very lucky that we ended up with a beautiful friendship that makes me smile when I get to sad!
I miss you!
Love Always
A police officer has died in an car accident in southern New South Wales early this morning.
Constable Graeme John Lees, 37, died when the car he was driving crashed into a tree off the Federal Highway, south-west of Goulburn.
Constable Lees was on his way to work at Queanbeyan police station.
He leaves behind a partner and two children.
Inspector Ian Davey from Queanbeyan police says Constable Less was a valued member of the force.
“He surely will be missed, he’s the type of person that we certainly do like to see in the police force and he was very well respected by his colleagues,” he said.
“He’s certainly a great and valued member of the police who will be lost and thought of dearly.”
Constable Lees’ colleagues are being counselled.
Police officer to be farewelled today
A police officer who died in a car accident in the NSW Southern Tablelands will be farewelled today.
Constable Graeme John Lees, 37, died on his way to work on Monday when his car left the Federal Highway and hit a tree near Collector.
Constable Lees’ colleagues have paid tribute to him, remembering a dedicated officer who had a promising career.
A police funeral will be held this afternoon at the Anglican St Saviours Cathedral in Goulburn.
Four people, including a police officer, were killed in separate crashes on NSW roads over a 24-hour period.
One woman died when her car ran off the road and hit a tree south-west of Sydney.
The NSW Ambulance Service said the woman, whose age was not known, died instantly when her vehicle crashed on Mount Hercules Road at Razorback, near Picton, about 5.50pm (AEST).
Passers-by pulled the woman from her wrecked car before it burst into flames, but she was already dead, an ambulance spokesman said.
The woman was the vehicle’s only occupant.
Earlier, a 59-year-old female British tourist was killed when the car in which she was travelling collided with a truck in southern NSW about 11.45am (AEST).
The vehicle veered onto the wrong side of the Monaro Highway at Bredbo and into the path of the truck, a police spokeswoman said.
The driver of the car, a 67-year-old man from the United Kingdom, was being treated in Canberra Hospital after suffering serious fractures in the crash.
A NSW police officer died in a single-vehicle crash in the state’s south.
Constable Graeme John Lees was believed to have been on his way to work at Queanbeyan police station when the crash occurred about 6am (AEST) today, a police spokesman said.
It appeared the sedan he was driving left the Federal Highway at Rowes Lagoon and crashed into a tree, the spokesman said.
A motorist found the crashed vehicle and called emergency services.
Monaro local area commander Gary Worboys said the news of the 37-year-old officer’s death had devastated police.
“Constable Lees was an outstanding police officer who was well liked by his colleagues and he will be sadly missed,” Superintendent Worboys said in a statement today.
“Our deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends.”
Support systems were in place to help grieving officers and family members, Supt Worboys said.
Constable Lees, who lived in the Goulburn area with his family, started work with the Monaro local area command in December 2002.
He worked previously at the Goulburn Base Hospital.
And police are appealing for witnesses to a fatal single vehicle collision at Bellevue Hill at about 1.30am this morning.
A maroon 1994 Hyundai Hatchback travelling north on Old South Head Road hit a power pole near the intersection of Banksia Street.
The 57-year-old male driver from Vaucluse was taken to St Vincents Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Anyone with information about the incident, or the events leading up to the fatal collision, is asked to contact Rose Bay Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
That this House expresses its deep sympathy to the family, friends and work colleagues of Police Constable Graeme John Lees who died in a single vehicle accident on the Federal Highway on 4 April 2005 while driving to Queanbeyan Police Station.
Service: From 30 August 2002 to 19 June 2004 = 1+ years of Service
Awards: Nil
Born: ? ? 1977
Died on: Saturday 19 June 2004
Cause: Motor Vehicle Accident – passenger in Police sedan. Vehicle -v- tree
Event location: Sydney Rd, Goulburn East, approx. 300 mtrs prior to Hume Hwy entrance.
Age: 27
Funeral date: ?
Funeral location: ?
Buried at: Cremated at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Camden Valley Way, Leppington.
Ashes collected by family.
Memorial at: Small car park on north side of north bound lane upon Sydney Rd, Goulburn East a few hundred metres from the Hume Hwy.
Plaque on a bolder.
The ” original memorial ” was a large gum tree in between the north and south bound lanes – opposite the car park.
The tree was lopped to ground level about 2013.
Tree location: Lat: -34.74257
Long: 149.76721
On the 19 June 2004 Constable Davis was the observer in a police vehicle when it was involved in a motor vehicle accident on the Sydney Road, just north of Goulburn. As a result of the accident the constable sustained fatal injuries.
The constable was born in 1977 and was sworn in as a probationary constable on the 30 August 2002. At the time of her death she was stationed at Goulburn.
SHELLEY IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra
Touch plate at the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra
This Memorial stone is located in a small car park siding on Sydney Rd, Goulburn, northbound towards the Hume Freeway from the city.
Photos taken, by Cal, on 24 April 2018. Note that the photo, of Shelley, had fallen from the plaque pre June 2017 and needs replacing.
GPS: -34.74226 149.76644
Note: The photo of Shelley Davis fell off her Memorial plaque pre June 2017 & still needs replacing. Photo taken 24 April 2018. As of 29 July 2018 there was still no ceramic plate attached. On 31 July 2018 a photo was sent to a ceramic business for this job to be done. Wednesday 12 September 2018 – the new ceramic photo plate ( below ) has been received and will be placed on the memorial plate ( above ) before Police Remembrance Day, 29 September 2018.
Many thanks to Paul Pepe, Necro Imaging, 11 Bruce St, West Preston, Vic. ( necroimaging@hotmail.com ) for doing the new ceramic photo plate below.
Memorial before the replacement of the photo on Tuesday 18 September 2018.
Memorial after the replacement of the photo on Tuesday 18 September 2018.
The way the Memorial plaque should have looked as soon as the damage was reported 15 months ago. Those that complained about Cal picking up the damaged porcelain photo from Goulburn – you had 15 months to have it replaced. I did it in ONE MONTH and didn’t even know the girl. Shame on those who complained.
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A small section of St John Of God, Richmond Hospital, where Police ( and others ) with PTSD have gone for Inpatient Treatment.
This is a small Memorial that previous patients ( Police ) have done to remember our friends who have fallen before us. The Black & Dark Blue Memorial stones are by Army members
WEDNESDAY 27 JULY 2005. MEMORIAL SITE AT THE TREE AGAINST WHICH CONSTABLE SHELLEY DAVIS, FROM GOULBURN POLICE STATION, LOST HER LIFE ONE NIGHT WHEN THE POLICE SEDAN SHE WAS A PASSENGER IN SLAMMED SIDEWAYS INTO THIS TREE – KILLING SHELLEY. THIS IS A HUGE TRIBUTE. I FOUND A 20 CENT PIECE ON THE GROUND AT THE BASE OF THE TREE. IT WAS COVERED IN BROWN (DRY BLOOD) AND WOULD HAVE OBVIOUSLY COME FROM THE CAR AND POSSIBLY BELONGED TO ONE OF THE OCCUPANTS. I KEPT THIS COIN. IT WAS RAINING ON THE NIGHT OF THIS ACCIDENT. SOMETIME IN 2010, THIS TREE AND THE GIFTS WERE TOTALLY REMOVED FROM THIS LOCATION. A ‘STONE’ MEMORIAL, WITH PLAQUE, WAS LATER LAID IN THE CAR PARK ADJACENT TO THIS TREE. I DON’T KNOW WHAT HAS BECOME OF THE PHOTOS, PRAYERS ETC BUT THE TREE HAS BEEN TOTALLY REMOVED FROM THE LOCATION ALSO.
Police crash scandal
By Rhett Watson
The Daily Telegraph
July 06, 200712:00AM
THE Deputy State Coroner has recommended the DPP investigate laying charges over the death of a police officer killed when the patrol car in which she was a passenger crashed three years ago.
The coronial inquest into the death of Constable Shelley Davis heard her partner, Senior-Constable Paul Sharman, was doing up to 110km/h in an 80km/h zone when he lost control of the vehicle on a road just outside Goulburn on June 19, 2004.
Criminal charges layed against him soon after the crash failed a year ago due to a technicality.
In releasing her findings in Glebe Coroners Court yesterday, Deputy State Coroner Dorelle Pinch recommended the DPP investigate laying charges “against an individual”.
Davis’ mother, Diane, said she was “pleased” the matter had been referred to the DPP and praised the efforts of investigators.
During the hearing last month, Mrs Davis read out a submission where she accused Sen-Constable Sharman of being a “cowboy cop, reckless, irresponsible and dishonest”.
Mrs Davis said outside court yesterday her family had visited Sen-Constable Sharman twice since her daughter’s death to support him but had never received an apology.
“That’s the main thing we would have wanted from the beginning – the truth, with an apology, would have been good,” Mrs Davis said.
“Shelley was always so honest and yet we have got officers she worked with who didn’t hold those values.”
Ms Pinch was highly critical of a second officer – Constable Damien Ottley – who had been a witness to the crash but had initially lied to investigators.
The inquest heard that Const Davis and Sen-Constable Sharman were travelling in police sedan Goulburn 37 – under lights and sirens – when the crash occurred at 9am on June 19.
Ms Pinch found there was no reason for them to be speeding as they were not needed at the job they were heading to – nor was that job considered urgent in the first place.
Other evidence heard in the inquest revealed that one witness described Goulburn 37’s speed as so fast “they were flying”.
Sen-Constable Sharman did not give evidence to the inquest.
A PERMANENT memorial has been dedicated to honour the “ray of sunshine”, Constable Shelley Davis, who died seven years ago last Sunday.
About 25 friends, former work colleagues and senior personnel from the Goulburn Local Area Command where Shelley worked attended the dedication ceremony last Sunday at the rest area opposite the site where she died in a patrol car accident on June 19, 2004.
Celebrant Trish Cunningham ( R.I.P. ) – whose husband Tony had helped with creating the memorial, fixing the plaque to the rock – conducted the brief ceremony. The rock for the memorial was transported from retired sergeant Rosie Jackson’s property by Primmer’s Towing while Rhod Stevens from the RTA assisted in the positioning of the site.
Local Area Commander, Superintendent Gary Worboys reminded everyone that police work is difficult and dangerous and the decisions that officers make can have lasting effects on other people. He said Shelley was, according to those who knew her, “like a ray of sunshine warming the hearts of those around her”.
“She was a dedicated officer and her loss was a tragedy,” Supt Worboys said.
“We can only hope that the lessons of that day will be learnt and that a similar tragedy will never happen again.”
Rosie Jackson said she would also like to thank Shane Biesterveld of Rudd Funerals for organising the plaque at short notice; Shepherds Hill Nursery who supplied some of the plants for the garden; Lena Cooper who helped with creating the garden, and everyone else who had a part in making the memorial possible.
Supt Worboys suggested the memorial would be a fitting place for a service during the annual Police Remembrance Day.
In memoriam: Constable Shelley Leanne DAVIS, New South Wales Police, killed on 19th June 2004
On the 19 June 2004 Constable Davis was the observer in a police vehicle when it was involved in a motor vehicle accident on the Sydney Road, just north of Goulburn. As a result of the accident, the constable sustained fatal injuries.
The constable was born in 1977 and was sworn in as a probationary constable on the 30 August 2002. At the time of her death she was stationed at Goulburn.
When Constable Davis began her Diploma of Policing Practice at the New South Wales Police College at Goulburn in August 2001 she did not know that the Southern Highlands would become her home in the longer term. She was stationed at Goulburn police station in August 2002 and settled at nearby Hill Top. Constable Davis made clear her motivation for joining NSW Police in a story published in the Goulburn Post to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Police College.
She said: “It may sound a little clichéd, but I wanted a job where I could make a difference, that was not boring and where I could challenge my boundaries.”
Constable Shelley Davis made the ultimate sacrifice in the course of the job that she loved. Shelley lived in Hill Top with her partner in life. She moved there so that she could continue to work in and be within commuting distance of her beloved Goulburn. Her colleagues described her as a bubbly, outgoing, lovely girl who loved to do everything, including horse riding and running, and she never had a bad word to say about anyone.
Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said that Constable Shelley Davis was, according to those who knew her, “like a ray of sunshine warming the hearts of those around her. She was a dedicated officer and her loss was a tragedy.”
Fallen in the line of duty. Gone, but never forgotten and forever in our hearts.
Robert Edwin BROTHERSON
| 27/10/2012
Police Remembrance Day:
Robert Edwin BROTHERSON
late of Oak Flats
New South Wales Police Force
Goulburn Police Academy – Class DPP 10 ( Class 4 )( Class 284 )
Rank: Nil. Student Police Officer ( S.P.O. )
Stations: NSW Police Academy Goulburn, Warilla ( Lake Illawarra ) – Field Placement
Service: From? September 2001 to 1 February 2002 = 4+ months
Born: Tuesday 18 April 1972
Event: Thursday 24 January 2002
Died: Friday 1 February 2002
Cause: Motor Vehicle Accident – Rear seat passenger, F6, Dapto
Age: 29 years, 9 months, 14 days
Funeral date: Wednesday 6 February 2002 @ 10am
Funeral location: St Paul’s Catholic Church, Tongarra Rd, Albion Park
Buried at: Lakeside Memorial Park, Kanahooka Lawn Cemetery, Kanahooka Rd, Kanahooka, NSW
Grave GPS:
Robert BROTHERSON
Headstone
Touch plate – National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra
Robert IS mentioned on the National Police Wall of Remembrance
About 7.20pm on 24 January, 2002 the student was a rear nearside passenger in a police Commodore sedan on the F6 Freeway at Dapto, heading to a Persons Trapped traffic accident, when the police vehicle, negotiating a broad right bend, hit a sheet of water, causing aquaplaning ( asymmetrical drag ), spun and collided with an oncoming truck. The student sustained critical head and internal injuries and was admitted to the Wollongong Hospital where he passed away, 9 days later, on 1 February, 2002.
At the time of his death the Student Police Officer was on the field placement phase of his police training at the Lake Illawarra Local Area Command.
I have absolutely no doubt that had we not had this unfortunate accident, Rob would have made a great policeman. Sorry mate !.
The death of Student Police Officer Robert Brotherson, who was a Student at the Goulburn Police Academy, led to the Robert Brotherson Trophy which is now presented to the student with the highest academic achievement in the policing program, at the Academy, during each new course. The trophy is awarded to that highest academic achiever at the Attestation Parade.
Police Remembrance Day: 30 years
Nan Tien Temple, Berkeley, NSW
Police Remembrance Day:
JOSHUA BUTLER
Family members lay a wreath for Robert Edwin Brotherson. Picture: ANDY ZAKELI
Almost 60 years on, Kenneth Nash still misses his uncle Allen.
Sergeant Allen William Nash, aged 40, was killed in the line of duty by a gun-wielding offender at Primbee in 1956.
Sgt Nash was one of eight officers stationed in the Lake Illawarra local area command who were recognised with memorial plaques on a wall of honour outside Lake Illawarra police station on Monday, as part of Police Remembrance Day commemorations.
Dozens of current and retired officers, families, friends, politicians, councillors and members of the public gathered at Oak Flats for a ceremony to unveil the memorial wall, and honour past and present officers.
Since 1862, more than 250 NSW Police officers have died in the line of duty.
Police officer Robert Brotherson was killed in 2002. Lake Illawarra Police are creating a memorial wall in his and other fallen officers’ honours. Pictured are Melissa Brotherson and her sons Ewan and Blake. Picture: ALBEY BOND
AN adventurous young man who wanted to help people will be one of eight officers acknowledged on Police Remembrance Day, when a memorial wall is unveiled in their honour at Lake Illawarra Police Station.
Robert Brotherson from Oak Flats was working in a cake shop with his parents in 2001 when he and his wife, Melissa, decided he would follow his dream to be a police officer.
But the dream was cut short on February 1, 2002, when the student officer was critically injured in a collision between a police car and a truck.
His life support was turned off eight days later.
The 29-year-old left behind two young sons, Blake and Ewan, who are now 14 and 13.
Melissa Brotherson said she was pleased Lake Illawarra Police had decided to recognise the eight officers.
“A lot of people don’t realise that our local police take risks to protect the community,” she said.
“That Rob was a student police officer makes it even more special – the fact that the police family still honours someone just at the start of their career.”
Ms Brotherson remembered her late husband as an “old-fashioned gentleman” who did not shy away from a skydive or a bungy jump.
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“He had a sense of compassion and empathy – he was the type of kid to take in a hurt animal and that extended to people,” she said.
“He wasn’t there [in the police force] for the glory, he wanted to help people.”
The command area has lost eight officers since 1951, either while on duty or as a result of injuries sustained on the job.
An outdoor commemorative plaque will be unveiled on Police Remembrance Day, September 29, and the station flag will be lowered to half-mast.
Lake Illawarra Local Area Commander Wayne Starling encouraged families of the fallen to come forward so they could be invited to the ceremony and contribute photographs for the display.
Family members can contact Sergeant Jason Harrison on 4232 5326 or email HARR2JAS@police.nsw.gov.au.
They can also send a personal message via the Lake Illawarra Local Area Command’s Eyewatch page on Facebook by visiting facebook.com/LakeillawarraLAC.
Every day, police officers go to work with the knowledge they may not be going home to their families.
In 2002, 29-year-old student police officer Robert Brotherson died while responding to a car crash in the Illawarra.
On Friday, his son, 13-year-old Blake Brotherson from Oak Flats, was named the 2013 winner of the NSW Police Legacy Commissioner’s Scholarship.
Presented by Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione as part of the Police Remembrance Day ceremony in Sydney, the scholarship provided $5000 to allow the year 7 student to follow his dreams to become a pilot.
At the time of his death, Robert Brotherson had successfully completed session one at the Police Academy and was undertaking field placement at Lake Illawarra Local Area Command.
Presenting the award, Mr Scipione said Blake was an active participant in Police Legacy activities and wished him luck for his future.
Meantime in Wollongong, a multi-denominational Police Remembrance Day service was held at St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral.
For Inspector Anne Clarke, the ceremony was a stark reminder of the risks she and her fellow officers faced.
“It brings home to us the real danger of policing,” she said.
More than that, Insp Clarke said the ceremony was an example of the tremendous camaraderie that existed among those who made up the thin blue line.
Although Police Remembrance Day exists to pay respect to those officers who have been killed in the line of duty, it also honours those who have died in the past 12 months while still employed with the force.
This was particularly poignant for Wollongong LAC, which has lost two former officers in the past two months – Chief Inspector Graeme Donnelly and Sergeant Nick Skomarow. More than 100 officers, members of the public and religious representatives attended the ceremony, conducted by Salvation Army chaplain Jayne Wilson.
Cause: Murdered – by Motor Vehicle whilst using Road Spikes to stop a stolen vehicle which drove straight at, and collided with, him.
Location: Hume Hwy ( north bound ), Glen Alpine
Funeral date: Thursday 18 January 2001
Funeral location: Camden Civic Centre
Grave: Cremated
Grave site: Interred in Woronora Cemetery on 3 June 2003
General Plaque Lawn. Lawn 4 Position 0796
Memorial 1/: Jim Affleck Bridge, Hume Hwy, Glen Alpine, NSW
Memorial 2/: HWP Vehicle ( 213 ) attached to Campbelltown – Registration JA-213 213 was the Call Sign of his HWP Vehicle.
Jim AFFLECK
2022
JA-213 NSW Registration – in Memory of Jim Affleck
About 8.40am on 14 January, 2001 police were attempting to stop a stolen vehicle during a high speed pursuit at Mittagong. Approval was given to place road spikes on the roadway and Senior Constable Affleck and other police did this near the Mark Evans Bridge, Glen Alpine. When the offending vehicle, travelling north, reached the spikes the driver intentionally swerved from one side of the north bound laned road to the other, hitting the senior constable, who was killed instantly. The driver was later arrested and charged with murder.
The senior constable was born in 1957 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 18 September, 1978. At the time of his death he was attached to the Campbelltown Highway Patrol.
Jim IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance
On the 14th of January 2001, Senior Constable Jim Affleck VA was hit and killed by a vehicle trying to evade police during a police pursuit on the Hume Highway, Glen Alpine.
To celebrate his life and remember his sacrifice 20 years on, there will be a memorial service and wreath laying held at Campbelltown Police Station at 8:30am on Thursday the 14th January 2021. This will be followed by a light morning tea.
An invitation has been extended to Jim’s friends, family and colleagues to attend.
Campbelltown mourns 13th anniversary of police officer’s death
Amanda Partridge
Macarthur Chronicle Campbelltown
January 15, 201412:02PM
Police officers pause to remember the late Jim Affleck, who was killed in the line of duty in 2001. Picture: ROBERT POZOSource: News Limited
IT’S been 13 years since highway patrol officer Jim Affleck was run down by a car on the Hume Highway.
But as nearly 100 people packed into the Campbelltown police station carpark yesterday to mark the anniversary of Sen Constable Affleck’s death, it was clear his legacy still burns strong.
Fellow officers, his widow Trish, and even a great nephew were among those to pay tribute to Sen Constable Affleck during a memorial yesterday.
The congregation gathered around the memorial garden dedicated to Sen Constable Affleck to lay wreaths and share kind words in honour of the police officer.
Jim Affleck’s widow Trish lays a wreath at the memorial garden, in honour of her late husband. Picture: ROBERT POZO.Source: News Limited
The Jim Affleck memorial garden bears freshly-laid flowers. Picture: ROBERT POZOSource: News Limited
Sen Constable Affleck’s car and police hat were present for the service.
The day marked 13 years since Sen Constable Affleck was run down by a car on the Hume Highway near Menangle on January 14, 2001, while laying road spikes to stop a stolen vehicle whose occupants were wanted for robberies.
Campbelltown police Insp Jason Inkster said the command believed it was important to honour Sen Constable Affleck’s sacrifice each year.
“It’s important because Jim was attached to the command at the time the incident occurred,” he said. “It’s important to remember our colleagues killed in the line of duty.
“I think it means a lot to his fellow officers and family, showing that we still remember the commitment and sacrifice made by Jim.”
Police and Jim Affleck’s family share hugs and fond memories of the late Jim Affleck. Picture: ROBERT POZOSource: News Limited
A photo of Jim Affleck sat atop his car at a memorial service yesterday. Picture: ROBERT POZOSource: News Limited
Driver who ran down officer ‘was re-enacting computer game’
By Ellen Connolly May 14 2002
The scene of Senior Constable Affleck’s death. Photo: Nick Moir
The driver of a stolen car who killed a highway patrol officer during a police chase was re-enacting one of his PlayStation computer games, The Need for Speed – Hot Pursuit, the Supreme Court heard yesterday.
Trevor Edward Holton, 26, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Senior Constable Jim Affleck, 43, near Campbelltown on January 14 last year.
In his opening address yesterday, the Crown prosecutor, Mark Tedeschi, QC, said that during the pursuit Holton was ”testing his car rallying skills” and was ”engaged in a real life re-enactment of the computer game”.
”To him the lives of other road users and the lives of police officers were just there as props to provide the thrill of the chase, and they were expendable in the pursuit of that thrill. Jim Affleck’s death was just part of this real-life game.”
The court was told the chase began about 8.30am after another man, who was a passenger in the four-wheel-drive, committed a bag snatch at Moss Vale. Also in the car was the man’s four-year-old stepdaughter.
For the next 40 minutes police chased the stolen vehicle as it drove on the wrong side of the road along the M5 freeway and the old Hume Highway, reaching speeds of up to 180kmh.
At one stage the passenger got out of the car and tried to take the girl with him but Holton sped off with her.
Senior Constable Affleck tried to stop the vehicle by throwing road spikes across the M5 but Holton swerved across two lanes to miss the spikes and hit the officer, Mr Tedeschi said. His body landed 80 metres away.
The stolen vehicle somersaulted and landed on its roof, with the girl, uninjured, still in the back. Holton fled but was arrested that night.
In a police interview Holton had said he ”was not prepared, at any stage, to get pulled over or stop”. He had seen Senior Constable Affleck running across the road in front of him trying to get the spikes under the vehicle.
”I couldn’t swerve; I couldn’t dodge him. I was going too fast. It’s like he [Affleck] didn’t care what happened.
”To me it was like it was suicide. He could see how fast I was going. He could see I could not stop.
”I have just been so angry … he could have avoided me so easy.”
He had said he knew about road spikes from playing the computer game, in which the main method of avoiding spikes is to veer off the road onto a median strip or the grass.
The state Opposition has called for compulsory life terms to be imposed on anyone who kills a police officer, after the “lenient” sentencing of a man who ran down a highway patrol officer.
Trevor Edward Holton, 27, was jailed yesterday for a minimum 12 years for the murder of Senior Constable Jim Affleck, killed while laying road spikes during a high-speed pursuit in western Sydney on January 14 last year.
In handing down sentence in the Supreme Court, Acting Justice Thomas Davidson said the jail term had to deter others and demonstrate that such acts against police in the execution of their duty would not be supported by the courts.
But the shadow attorney-general, Chris Hartcher, said this was not reflected in the sentence and called on the judicial system to stand behind police officers.
“Mr Holton should go to jail for the rest of his natural life. He certainly would if the coalition was in office,” Mr Hartcher said.
The Attorney-General, Bob Debus, said he had sought advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions on prospects for an appeal. “Understandably, there is considerable community concern about the sentence imposed,” Mr Debus said.
The court heard Holton was re-enacting one of his PlayStation computer games and was testing his car rally skills during the 40-minute pursuit.
Constable Affleck’s distraught family said it was “extremely disappointed” at the sentence and wanted harsher terms imposed on anyone convicted of murdering a police officer.
“If someone is prepared to kill a police officer they’re prepared to kill anybody, and I think they should have a sentence which is much stronger for police,” the victim’s brother, Paul Affleck, said outside court. “They’re out there doing their job, protecting us, and it should be reflected in the sentencing. Mr Carr’s talking about minimum sentences all the time.”
Inspector Hans Rupp, who led the investigation, said: “Trish has lost a good husband, his work colleagues have lost a great mate and, unfortunately for NSW, we’ve lost a great policeman. You just can’t replace police of the calibre of Jim Affleck.”
The family of murdered policeman Jim Affleck has described his killer’s attempt to appeal against a 12-year jail sentence as “an outrage”.
A year after Trevor Edward Holton was sentenced to serve a minimum of 12 years (maximum of 16) in jail for the highway patrol officer’s murder, he has initiated an appeal against the severity of the sentence in the Court of Criminal Appeal.
Holton, of Claymore, south-west Sydney, was sentenced in August after he ran down and killed Affleck in January 2001.
He hit Affleck with a stolen four-wheel-drive when he swerved to avoid road spikes the policeman was laying across the M5 Freeway at Campbelltown.
Delivering the sentence in the Supreme Court, Acting Judge Thomas Davidson said the jail term needed to act as a deterrent and demonstrate that such acts against police in the execution of their duty would not be tolerated.
However, the Department of Public Prosecutions has since lodged an appeal against the leniency of the sentence, with a hearing due next month.
The Crown’s stance is in contrast to Holton’s planned appeal against the harshness of the same sentence.
“If he does [appeal], it may well be that the Crown appeal in December will be vacated,” a court spokesman said. “The court likes to deal with these things as one.”
Any appeal against the severity flies in the face of the outrage that greeted the sentencing last year.
“We thought he deserved more,” the victim’s brother, Paul Affleck, said. “Before the sentencing we sat down with [then police minister] Michael Costa. He gave us an idea of what they were looking at for minimum sentences and more stringent sentencing.
“It has now been 12 months since the sentencing and nothing has been done. How many more policemen have to die before someone does something?”
NSW shadow attorney-general Andrew Tink said he had a simple approach to the matter.
“Anyone who kills a police officer while they are carrying out their duties should go to jail for life,” he said. “That is our strong stance.”
Mr Affleck said Holton’s bid to reduce his sentence was not a surprise, just unfortunate.
“We have been expecting that all along, just the way the defence was talking after the trial,” he said.
“Anyone who kills a policeman should spend his life in jail – he had a criminal record going back until he was 13 or something.
“I think it’s ridiculous and I don’t know why we tolerate these things. I just think it’s ridiculous he has the opportunity to [appeal].
“I think anyone who kills anyone doesn’t deserve any freedom.”
A policeman who died after being run over by a fleeing car thief should have shot his killer “between the eyes”, his widow says.
The widow of Senior Constable Jim Affleck was speaking yesterday after a court rejected the Crown’s appeal against the leniency of the sentence given to the man who ran him down.
Trish Affleck compared the situation her husband was in when he was killed by Trevor Edward Holton to that faced by another policeman, Inspector Shane Cribb, who has been charged over the shooting of a criminal who drove a getaway car at him three years ago.
“You have got Inspector Cribb looking down the barrel of a jail term for doing what I wish to God Jim had done. I wish to God he would have shot Holton between the eyes,” Mrs Affleck said with tears in her eyes.
The NSW Court of Appeal, in a 2-1 decision, yesterday rejected the Crown’s argument for a tougher sentence for Holton, who was jailed in August 2002 for a minimum of 12 years, and a maximum 16, for the murder of Senior Constable Affleck.
On January 14, 2001, the stolen four-wheel-drive Holton was driving hit Senior Constable Affleck, a highway patrolman, as he laid out road spikes on M5 to stop the vehicle. Holton was being pursued by police after committing a robbery.
Holton also appealed against his conviction, but that was unanimously dismissed by justices Michael Grove, Robert Hulme and Rex Smart yesterday.
Wall To Wall Ride 2012 – M5 Motorway South of Sydney. Slowing down in tribute to Jim Affleck, crossing the bridge named in his honour. Polair was hovering above filming, but because I didn’t check my vertical camera angle, I missed it!
In January 2001 Senior Constable Jim Affleck was a Highway Patrol Officer who was run over a killed whilst deploying a set of ‘road spikes’ during a high speed police pursuit. The offending driver actually drove his vehicle at Affleck in a deliberate attempt to run him down. He was subsequently charged with murder.
Alone in his patrol car, Chris Thornton had the police siren flashing as he chased a white sedan through Woy Woy.
Thornton, 35, a highway patrolman, had been in the force for 15 years. He was, his mother says, “the best driver I have ever seen”.
The reason for the chase that night in April 2002 is unknown. Both cars were seen travelling at high speed. Thornton was about 50 metres behind.
Meanwhile, Leonard Rowley, 56, an unlicensed driver, was driving to his local KFC to pick up dinner. He saw the first car flash past and judged – wrongly – that he had time to turn out in front of the patrol car. Thornton tried to avoid Rowley’s car but clipped the back, veered onto the wrong side of the road and hit a power pole.
Thornton died on the spot, which is marked by a permanent stainless-steel cross. Rowley later received a suspended two-year sentence.
“His life from the age of 12 was about helping people,” says Thornton’s mother, Freada Thornton. “He was in the surf club and he was there to rescue people and then he went into the force and he was doing the same thing.” His father, Barry Thornton, says: “He loved life. He had been in Gosford for 15 years and was so popular with the community there.”
Police pursuits are, says Barry, a necessary evil: “If they don’t catch the criminals there will be more deaths on the roads. The ones that they’re in pursuit of are the idiots that have done the wrong thing to start with.”
But pursuits have come at a cost to the NSW Police Department. Fifteen officers have died as a result of high-speed chases, beginning with the death of Constable George Boore in 1937.
Details provided by the NSW Police Association show a steady stream of fatalities involving cars and motorcycles. The full list of casualties is as follows:
Rank: Commenced training at Redfern Police Academy on Monday 17 August 1981 ( aged 22 years, 6 months, 15 days )
Probationary Constable – appointed 6 November 1981 ( 22 years, 9 months, 4 days )
Constable – appointed 6 November 1982
Constable 1st Class – appointed 6 November 1986
Senior Constable – death
Final Rank: Senior Constable
Stations: ?, Kempsey
Service: From 17 August 1981 to 9 July 1995 = 13 years, 10 months, 22 days Service
Awards: No find on It’s An Honour
Commissioner’s Medal for Valour – posthumously
National Police Service Medal – granted 9 July 2015 – posthumously
Born: Monday 2 February 1959
Died on: Sunday 9 July 1995
Death location: Main Street, Crescent Heads
Cause: Shot – murdered
Age: 36 years, 5 months, 7 days
Funeral date: ?
Funeral location: ?
Buried at: Rose Garden, Innes Gardens Memorial Park, NSW:
Grave location: Lat/Long: -31.462153 , 152.858907
Memorial location: Killuke St, Crescent Head’s
PETER IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance
SenCon Peter John ADDISON – shot – 9 July 1995 – Crescent Head
Peter John ADDISON – touch plate at National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra.
Grave plaque for Peter ADDISON
Redfern Police Academy Class 175 – Sub Class A Back Row L to R: R. BARRIE # 19933, R.F. EDWARDS, Peter John ADDISON # 19914, A.J. CATTELL # 20205, J. DeROTA # 19902, G.J. DUNCAN # 19913, D.P. ELLIS # 19906, E.S. BIRCHALL # 19917 Centre Row L to R: Sgt 3/c J.A. SHIPLEE # 11230, P. DAVIES # 19919, D.F. BAILEY # 19916, P.G. DUNWORTH # 19937, M.D. BALDOCK # 20162, P.A. BLAIR # 19942, S.G. BENNETT # 19934, Sgt 3/c R.E. FORD # 10076 Front Row L to R: A.C. BURNS # 19904, J.M. CLUGSTON # 19895, Donna M. BURTON ( Donna McMAHON / Donna Thompson ) # 19929 , M.E. AUSTIN # 19908, Suzanne Joy DEARNLEY # 19945, J.A. CAMPBELL # 19903, M.L. CORNISH # 19898, J.A. DAHLBERG, D.M. CONNELL # 19891
&
Robert Bruce SPEARS
( late of Port Macquarie )
New South Wales Police Force
Redfern Police Academy Class # 227
ProCst # 98500
Regd. # 23854
Rank: Commenced training at Goulburn Police Academy on Wednesday 1 April 1987 ( aged 28 years, 16 days )
Probationary Constable – appointed 26 June 1987 ( aged 28 years, 3 months, 10 days )
Constable – appointed 26 June 1988
Senior Constable – death
Final Rank: Senior Constable
Stations: ?, Liverpool, Kempsey
Service: From1 April 1987 to9 July 1995 = 8 years, 3 months, 8 days Service
Awards: No find on It’s An Honour
Commissioner’s Medal for Valour – posthumously
National Police Service Medal – granted 9 July 2015 – posthumously
Born: Monday 16 March 1959
Died on: Sunday 9 July 1995
Cause: Shot – murdered
Age: 36 years, 3 months, 23 days
Funeral date: ?
Funeral location: ?, Liverpool, NSW
Buried at: ?
Grave location: Lat/Long: -31.462153 , 152.858907
Compass Rose Garden, Innes Gardens Memorial Park, NSW:
Memorial location: Killuke St, Crescent Head’s
ROBERT IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance
SenCon Robert Bruce SPEARS – shot – 9 July 1995 – Crescent Head
Bob Spears and his son
Touch plate for Senior Constable Robert SPEARS at the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra.
Grave plate for Robert SPEARS
Crescent Head memorial as of July 5, 2013. The memorial to Senior Constables Peter Addison and Robert Spears is being well cared for. 2013 marks the 18th anniversary of their death. Such a sad waste of the lives of such good men. Their bravery was exceptional. R.I.P.
About 12.35am on 9 July, 1995 the constables were performing night shift at the Kempsey Police Station when they were called to a malicious damage complaint at the nearby township of Crescent Head. Having attended one address in relation to the complaint they drove to a dwelling in Main Street, Crescent Head. There they parked the police vehicle in a driveway and began to walk toward the front door.
At 1.22am an urgent radio message was received from Senior Constable Addison requesting urgent assistance. It was later learned that the offender McGowan had hidden near the carport of the dwelling and, camouflaged and armed with a high-powered Ruger rifle, had opened fire on the two police.
While withdrawing to the police vehicle Senior Constable Spears received a severe wound to the head and collapsed onto the ground. After exchanging shots with the offender Senior Constable Addison quickly sought help from neighbours. While apparently seeking a house with a telephone so he could call for assistance for his partner, he was also shot to death.
The murderer then committed suicide with the rifle.
At the inquest into the deaths of the two constables the New South Wales Coroner Mr Derek Hand commended both men for their extraordinary courage. Special mention was made of Senior Constable Addison‘s bravery in that “No-one would have blamed him if he had decided to seek safety. Not only was he obviously concerned about Constable Spears but he was faced with an armed man who could have caused much more death and injury in the neighbourhood”.
Mr Hand also commended the brave actions of Detective Senior Constable Michael Clark, Ambulance Officer Edward Hill and Mr Gregory Barnett.
Senior Constable Addison was born in 1959 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 6 November, 1981. At the time of his death he was stationed at Kempsey. He was posthumously awarded the Commissioner’s Medal for Valour.
Senior Constable Spears was born in 1959 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 26 June, 1987. At the time of his death he was stationed at Kempsey. He was posthumously awarded the Commissioner’s Medal for Valour.
New South Wales. State Coroner (1995). [Inquests into the deaths of Robert Bruce Spears, Peter John Addison and John Craig McGowan : transcript of the Coroner’s address, findings and recommendations of 13 October 1995.]. New South Wales State Coroner’s Court, [Penrith, N.S.W ( no link )
Commemorative service 10:30am, Thursday 9 July 2015 Addison/Spears memorial site Corner of Baker Dr and Killuke Cr, Crescent Head
Valour not forgotten
A ceremony this month will mark the 20th anniversary of one of our darkest days.
STORY SHAUN FEWINGS
PUBLIC AFFAIRS BRANCH
On the face of it, it was a routine call to a domestic violence complaint but within an hour two police officers were ambushed and shot dead.
When Kempsey-based police officers, Senior Constables Peter Addison VA and Robert Spears VA arrived in the small mid north coast town of Crescent Head, they came under attack from a hidden assassin. Local electrician John McGowan was drunk and dressed in camouflage gear, hiding near a car port on his Walker Street property.
The 35-year-old, armed with a high-powered modified Ruger 14 rifle, opened fire on the officers as they got out of their 4WD. The pair took cover behind their vehicle and exchanged shots with the gunman.
As Snr Cst Addison got back in the car to radio for backup, McGowan shot his partner in the head.
Snr Cst Addison ran to a neighbouring house to seek help but it didn’t have a telephone. He continued to exchange shots with the offender but was also shot dead. The killer then turned the gun on himself.
It happened at 1.22am on 9 July, 1995 and remains one of the darkest days in the history of the NSWPF. The deaths led to major reforms, including the introduction of automatic pistols and bullet proof vests for first response officers, improved radio equipment and coverage, and advances in police tactical training.
A special ceremony will mark the 20th anniversary of their deaths at a memorial site within the town. Commissioner Andrew Scipione will present the widows of Senior Constables Addison and Spears with National Police Service Medals in honour of their courage, service and diligence.
Today the ranks of the NSWPF are filled with many officers too young to remember the Crescent Head shootings but who remain protected by the legacy of two brave police officers.July 2015Police Monthly3
The medals awarded to widows of Peter Addison and Robert Spears. Picture: Lindsay Moller
$18 loader may have saved police life
Feb. 6, 2001, 9:02 p.m.
ONE of two police officers killed after being ambushed by a drunken gunmen at Crescent Head in 1995 may have survived if he had been issued with an $18 speedloader the Industrial Relations Court has been told.
NSW WorkCover Authority is proceeding with eight summonses against the Crown over alleged Occupational, Health and Safety Act breaches by the NSW Police Service stemming from the shooting deaths of Kempsey policemen, Senior Constables Robert Spears and Peter Addison.
The matter, being heard by Justice Hungerford, began in Sydney on Monday and is expected to take three weeks to complete.
Senior Constables Addison and Spears, both Port Macquarie residents, were shot by John McGowan on July 9, 1995 when they went to investigate a domestic violence complaint.
In the preceding Coronial Inquest, Coroner Derrick Hand found the two officers had been ‘massively outgunned’, lacked bulletproof vests and were hampered by poor radio communications.
WorkCover alleges the breaches of the Act contributed to the deaths of the policemen and specifically refers to inadequate equipment and training and the alleged failure to provide self-loading firearms.
When the officers arrived at the home of McGowan he was armed .223 calibre Ruger Rifle.
Constable Spears was shot dead in McGowan’s first salvo before Const. Addison managed to enter a house across the road to use a phone for help, when he was told there was not one he left the house only to be shot dead himself.
McGowan then shot himself.
WorkCover alleges the Crown failed to ensure the health and safety of Const. Addison and Spears by not providing them with a speedloader or a self-loader weapon such as a the 9mm Glock pistol, which holds 17 rounds, now used by the service.
WorkCover’s Barrister Steven Crawshaw told the court a speedloader, a round device used to load all six bullets into the then standard police weapon, a .38 Smith and Wesson, would have let Const. Addison reload more efficiently under pressure.
Police Service Barrister, Peter Hastings, QC, told the court Const. Addison did not appear to be reloading at the time he was killed so the issue was irrelevant.
The officers were issued with speed strip reloaders that enable rounds to be loaded two at a time.
The court heard Const. Addison had fired all six rounds from his revolver and investigators found his unused speed strip lying near his body.
WorkCover has also alleged that the police service failed to provide the two officers with training addressing in a practical way the tactics to be employed in a high-risk situation such as they were faced with and the systems the police service had in place to ensure training was deficient.
Training of police attacked May 3, 2001, 9:06 p.m.
SIX years after the shooting deaths of two Kempsey police officers a NSW court has found the NSW Police Service negligent in not providing adequate training and communications for the officers.
Senior Constables Robert Spears and Peter Addison, both Port Macquarie residents, were gunned down by a drunken John McGowan when they went to investigate a domestic violence complaint at Crescent Head on July 9, 1995.
NSW WorkCover, in January, started proceedings against the NSW Police Service through the NSW Industrial Relations Court over breaches of the Occupational, Health and Safety Act in relation to the deaths of Constables Addison and Spears.
On Wednesday, Justice Barrie Hungerford found that the NSW Police Service failed to provide adequate training and radio equipment.
Justice Hungerford found that the radio communications equipment was inadequate.
In the judgement Justice Hungerford said Senior Constable Spears and Addison were placed at risk of injury in that they could not communicate with other officers and vice versa.
“This created a working environment in which there was a greater risk of physical harm,” he said.
Justice Hungerford said there was evidence that supported the proposition that the officers concerned had not received up-to-date training in the various matters relevant to operational situations.
“Those subject matters, specifically, were weapons handling, tactics in high-risk situations, method of approach to buildings, concealment and the use of lights and torches.
“The very nature of the circumstances as they existed at Crescent Head during the subject incident made relevant the type of training the two officers had not recently received,” Justice Hungerford said.
Justice Hungerford dismissed eight other charges brought against the NSW Police Service by WorkCover relating to firearms, firearm equipment and training and operational duties.
The case was adjourned for a number of weeks to give the Police Service time to prepare mitigating evidence to be presented to Justice Hungerford before he announces the penalty.
On that night in 1995, after talking to a woman complaining of domestic violence threats, Constables Spears and Addison attended McGowan’s house in Walker Street at Crescent Head.
It is believed an altercation occurred between McGowan and the two officers. At some point McGowan produced a modified Ruger 14 rifle and the two officers retreated behind their 4WD.
McGowan then fired a number of shots at the officers while they sheltered behind their vehicle. Both officers returned fire from their position. A short time later Constables Addison and Spears got into the 4WD.
While Constable Addison radioed that they were in trouble McGowan shot Constable Spears in the head.
Constable Addison then again radioed that an officer was down before retreating across the road and entering a house in a bid to use a telephone to call for help.
After realising the house didn’t have a telephone Constable Addison left the house and exchanged shots with McGowan who was still beside the police vehicle.
A witness stated that then Constable Addison might have emptied his revolver while retreating to the rear of the house he just exited.
For reasons which were not clear, it is believed that Constable Addison attempted to go forward, with an empty gun and his torch shinning, but was shot dead by McGowan .
McGowan then shot himself and was found the next morning slumped on the lawn.
THE NSW Police Service has been fined $220,000 for not providing adequate training to two Kempsey police officers killed in a shootout at Crescent Head in 1995.
Senior Constable Peter Addison and Senior Constable Robert Spears, both residents of Port Macquarie, were shot and killed by John McGowan when they went to investigate a domestic violence complaint in the seaside village on the night of Saturday, July 9, 1995.
NSW WorkCover started proceedings, in the NSW Industrial Court, against the NSW Police Service in January 2001.
NSW WorkCover alleged a number of breaches of the Occupational, Health and Safety Act in relation to the deaths of Constables Addison and Spears.
In May of last year Justice Barrie Hungerford found that NSW Police had not provided Constables Spears and Addison with up-to-date training in high-risk situation tactics.
Justice Hungerford described the offence as being ‘extremely serious’ and noted that the officers had not undergone mandatory training in the use and reloading of weapons, use of torches, defensive tactics and communications.
In assessing the penalty, Justice Hungerford said the action taken by the Police Service since that fatal day to develop training programs and its previously clear occupational health and safety record.
“It is not unreasonable to conclude, in light of the clearly dangerous nature of the industry in which the Police Service operates, that the fact it has a clear occupational health and safety record is a weighty factor in its favour…,” Justice Hungerford said in his decision.
“Another relevant subjective consideration is the action taken by the defendant in respect of the Police Service in developing training programs for police officers, including the important program of ammunition training, and its leading role in that respect compared with police forces in other states,” he said.
WorkCover NSW acting general managerMichelle Patterson said “this tragic incident highlights the need for all employers to undertake appropriate risk management and to provide adequate training so that employees are able to carry out their duties”.
Honouring their grandfathers: Blake Addison, Joey Addison and Liam Jones.
THE memories of former police officers Bob Spears and Peter Addison are being preserved by three Port Macquarie boys who never met their grandfathers. Blake Addison, 6, Joey Addison, 4, and Liam Jones, 4, were not born when the Kempsey-based senior constables were shot down at Crescent Head in 1995. Late last month the boys were taken into their grandparents’ former world of crime and justice during an open day at Port Macquarie Police Station. They joined retired officers and their families on a tour of the station to uphold their family’s connection with the NSW Police Force.“I wasn’t lucky enough to meet them but my brother Joe and cousin Liam and I were treated so special at the open day we know our pops were important and special,” Blake said. There has been a concerted effort by the Addison and Spears families to ensure the boys understand the sacrifices their grandfathers made to protect the community before their death. Policing had been such a dominant part of the Addison and Spears lives before the shooting that the boys’ parents wanted it to be part of the next generation too. Blake and Joey Addison were an indirect result of the tragedy 12 years ago. The shooting brought their parents Jade Spears and Glen Addison together – Jade Spears and Glen Addison were the children of Bob Spears and Peter Addison. Liam Jones is Bob Spears’s grandson – Liam’s mother Hayley Jones changed her maiden name from Addison when she married.
The web of family connections and history has only brought the Addisons and Spears closer.
The trio of boys, their sisters, their parents, and their grandmothers are almost inseparable.
Next year, they will all attend Police Remembrance Day for the first time as a whole family to reflect again on the lives Bob Spears and Peter Addison.
SACRIFICE and sadness will hang heavy in the air on Thursday for officers and wider family of the Mid North Coast Local Area Command.It will be the 20th anniversary of senior constables Pete Addison and Bob Spears‘ murders at Crescent Head.The two officers, stationed at Kempsey but both of whom lived in Port Macquarie, were killed while responding to a violent disturbance on Main Street about 1am on July 9, 1995.Electrician John McGowan killed Sen Const Spears first by using a .223 calibre Rutger Rifle, before taking the other officer’s life.McGowan then shot himself.The two officers were posthumously awarded the NSW Police Force’s highest honour, the Commissioner’s Valour Award, the following month.More than 200 officers and guests are expected at Crescent Head’s Killuke St memorial tomorrow at 10.30am to commemorate the fallen colleagues.
Killuke St memorial Stone to Addison & Spears – 2015
“It will be an opportunity for all colleagues to show we haven’t forgotten what happened,” Superintendent Paul Fehon said on Monday.
“It’s for us to remember, and for us to let the families know we will never forget their bravery.
“There was an impact on so many people.”
Police chaplain Father Paul Gooley will lead the service, which will be co-celebrated by Fr John Casey who was the LAC’s chaplain 20 years ago and conducted Sen. Const. Addison’s funeral.
Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione will then present the National Police Service medals to the widows of the two officers to mark the men’s heroism and diligence to duty.
Deputy commissioners Catherine Burn and Nick Kaldas will also be at the service, as well as former commissioners, politicians and the heads of Ambulance NSW and Fire and Rescue NSW.
Former State Coroner Derrick Hand, who investigated the murders, is another notable guest.
The general public is also invited to attend, with plenty of space available in surrounding parkland.
The slain officers’ families will lay wreaths, followed by Commissioner Scipione and fellow police.
The community are also able to lay a wreath. A reception will take place following the ceremony at the Crescent Head Country Club.
Families of slain officers Peter Addison and Robert Spears united by love
Samantha Townsend
The Daily Telegraph
July 09, 2015 1:02PM
Glenn Addison (centre back) and Jade Spears (centre front in blue) with family members of Peter Addison and Robert Spears at Crescent Head. Picture: Lindsay Moller
TWO families united in the most horrific of circumstances are forever joined through the generations.
Senior Constables Peter Addison and Robert Spears, both 36, were killed by a gunman after responding to a domestic violence call in Crescent Head on the Mid North Coast on July 9, 1995.
Their children Glenn Addison and Jade Spears, who were 16 and 15 at the time, met after their fathers’ deaths and went on to get married.
The pair, with their children Blake, 14, Joe, 12, and Charlie, 10, joined their mothers Liana and Kathy as well as family and friends today at a ceremony in the coastal town to mark the 20th anniversary of the tragedy.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Liana (Addison) Stewart, said their families would always be connected not only because of their loss but through the marriage of their children.
“There has to be good come out of this,” Liana said. “Our families will always be connected.”
Haley Addison and Liana (Addison) Stewart at the special 20th Anniversary ceremony. Picture: Lindsay Moller
Jade Spears with her son and husband Glenn Addison at Crescent Head. Picture: Lindsay Moller
She said the ceremony was a special day for the family and she knew “without a doubt” their legacy would stay strong.
“It’s nice they have never been forgot,” she said.
Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione presented National Police Service medals to the widows of the slain officers today in honour of the men, who gave their lives while attempting to apprehend an armed offender.
The Kempsey-based senior constables had been dispatched to Crescent Head to investigate a report of domestic violence in the early hours of July 9, 1995.
As they arrived in Walker St, the policemen came under fire from drunken gunman John McGowan, dressed in camouflage gear and hiding near a carport.
The officers returned fire as they sought cover behind their four wheel drive. Addison tried to call for back-up on their police radio when Spears was fatally wounded.
Robert Spears was fatally wounded trying to apprehend an armed gunman.
Peter Addison who was gunned down in the line of duty.
In a desperate bid to seek help for his dying friend, Addison ran to a nearby house but it didn’t have a telephone.
As he tried to enter another property, still returning fire, the 14-year police veteran was also shot dead by the gunman, who then turned his high-powered rifle on himself.
Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said the heroic officers had “stood their ground, defending themselves and their community from a cowardly assassin”.
“Peter Addison was not prepared to leave his wounded friend and colleague… together they made the ultimate sacrifice and we will never forget them for it,” he said
Their deaths led to major reforms within the force including the transition from revolvers to automatic pistols, bulletproof vests for first response officers, improved radio coverage and equipment as well as state-of-the-art tactical training for uniformed police.
Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione handing the National Police Service medal to Kathy Spears. Picture: Lindsay Moller
The Spears and Addison families are connected by love and tragedy thanks to a marriage between the officer’s children. Picture: Lindsay Moller
Walker St, the scene of the Crescent Head shootings, on July 9, 1995.
Crescent Heads police killings: Two decades on, ceremony will mark sacrifice made by senior constables on duty
Samantha Townsend Regional Reporter
The Daily Telegraph
July 09, 2015 12:00AM
The scene in Walker Street, Crescent Head, the morning of the shootings, with the body of gunman John McGowan (right) covered by a sheet as police speak with shocked residents.
Pair on night shift when they attended to domestic dispute call
Arrived to find gunman in camouflage gear carrying high-powered rifle
Gunman shot two policemen dead before killing himself
Tragedy led to major reforms within police force
IT WAS supposed to be a routine domestic violence call, but what happened next not only tore apart two families but also stunned a NSW coastal town.
Senior Constables Robert Spears and Peter Addison made the ultimate sacrifice when they were killed in the line of duty while protecting the community of Crescent Head on the Mid North Coast from an armed gunman on July 9, 1995.
Today is the 20th anniversary of their deaths and Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione has presented National Police Service medals to the widows of the slain officers in honour of the pair’s heroism and diligence to duty.
Spears and Addison, both 36, respectively the fathers of two and three children, had moved to the Mid North Coast for a better lifestyle.
The Daily Telegraph reported at that time that on the night on July 8, 1995, the officers had kissed their families goodbye and headed out for the late shift at Kempsey Police Station.
At 12.35am the officers received a distress call about a domestic violence incident at nearby Crescent Head from the former girlfriend of electrician John McGowan.
The scene after two police officers responding to a domestic disturbance call were gunned down by John McGowan.
Senior police officers next to the covered body of McGowan.
When they arrived into the township around 1am, The Daily Telegraph Mirror reported the police officers were confronted by a drunken McGowan dressed in camouflage gear and armed with a high-powered rifle.
THE DAY MURDER CAME TO MY SLEEPY BEACH TOWN
The officers were armed with police-issue .38 Smith and Wesson revolvers.
A call for back-up was made around 1.22am.
A NSW police spokesman told The Daily Telegraph yesterday that Spears was fatally wounded first, having been shot in the head.
John McGowan shot and killed the two policemen before committing suicide in the street.
Unable to get radio assistance, the spokesman said Addison dashed to a nearby home to use the landline but the occupants did not have one.
On his way to a second house, Addison was shot dead.
McGowan then turned the gun on himself.
In the hours after the incident, police swarmed into the town, warning residents to stay inside their homes.
Police guard lines route of Senior Constable Robert Spears‘ funeral at Liverpool.
Glen Addison weeps as his brother Scott consoles him at their father’s funeral.
Uniformed police link arms at funeral of colleague Senior Constable Addison.
Police carry the coffin of Senior Constable Peter Addison.
At that stage they did not know the gunman had killed himself.
It has been reported that police found his body around 9am.
Not long after the senior constables deaths, the fallen officers were awarded the Police Force’s highest honour, the Commissioner’s Valour Award.
Their deaths led to major reforms within the force including the transition from revolvers to automatic pistols, bulletproof vests for first response officers, improved radio coverage and equipment as well as state-of-the-art tactical training for uniformed police.
NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione says the shootings of two police officers at Crescent head is the darkest day in the NSW police history.
Around 250 people gathered at Crescent head including families and friends of the dead officers where their widows were awarded with medals for officers valour.
“Senior Constables, Peter Addison and Robert Spears, walked into an ambush,” he said.
“Human instinct would demand you remove yourself from harm’s way in a situation like that, but not these brave officers.
“They knew they had to try to stop this gunman who could have gone on to kill or injure others.
“They stood their ground, defending themselves and their community from a cowardly assassin.
“Peter Addison was not prepared to leave his wounded friend and colleague…together they made the ultimate sacrifice and we will never forget them for it.”
A memorial plaque was unveiled in the town in 1996 just a few hundred metres away from the street where the officers were slain.
The plaque reads: “The Kempsey Shire Council on behalf of the community, has erected this memorial acknowledging the personal courage and sacrifice of Senior Constables Peter Addison and Robert Spears, who gave their lives while attempting to apprehend an armed offender on the 9th July, 1995.”
Police Commission Andrew Scipione joined a host of other dignitaries at the Crescent Head memorial to mark the 20th anniversary of their deaths.
A long list of dignitaries including former Police Commissioners, Tony Lauer and Neil Taylor, attended today’s ceremony to honour the officers for their bravery and dedication to duty.
Following the shooting murders of Senior Constables Peter John Addison and Robert Bruce Spears at Crescent Head, on the 9 July, 1995, the Police Association pressed for a serious review of the firearms on issue to general duties police, with the aim of having
the .38 special Smith & Wesson model 10 revolver replaced with a self loading pistol.
The model 10 had been in service for 30 years. Addison and Spears were shot dead by John McGowan, who was armed with a .223 calibre Ruger Mini 14 self loading rifle.
McGowan had several loaded magazines and his rifle was painted in camouflage paint.
The two policemen went to McGowan’s residence in Walker Street, Crescent Head, following a complaint that McGowan made threats to his former girlfriend. Addison and Spears exchanged shots with McGowan but were obviously outgunned. It appeared that when Spears tried to reload his revolver, the speed strip containing his ammunition fell to the ground. McGowan shot himself dead after shooting Addison and Spears and his rifle was found next to his body. It was estimated that McGowan fired 30 shots from the rifle,
with some of McGowan’s bullets hitting neighbouring houses and killing a stray dog.
Peter Addison joined the police in 1981 and Robert Spears had been in the police since 1987. Both men were posthumously awarded the Commissioner’s Medal for Valour.
Since the late 1980s, the adequacy of the revolver for police duties had been in question and the self loading pistol was favoured as a replacement for the Smith & Wesson model 10 revolver. In 1998, the Glock model 22 self loading pistol chambered for the .40 S&W cartridge was being issued to replace the .38 calibre Smith & Wesson model 10 revolver.
The Glock is not the first type of self loading pistol that has been issued to NSW Police.
From the late 1920s, until phasing in of the Smith & Wesson model 10 revolver in the 1960s, an assorted variety of pistols and revolvers were used for police use, many coming from confiscated and surrendered stocks as well as government purchase. Throughout this period leading up to 1965, revolvers such as the .32 Colt Police Positive, the Colt Pocket Positive and also the .38 special Smith & Wesson model 10, were issued to ranks below sergeants 1st class were issued with .25 calibre self loading pistols. While this may have been the desired mode of issue, the types of pistols and revolvers issued depended on things such as supply and availability.
Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 – 1995),
Friday 14 July 1995, page 6
Firearms amnesty follows tragedy
SYDNEY: The NSW Government has announced a 12 month firearms amnesty effective immediately.
The Premier, Bob Carr, said yesterday that anyone who was holding an illegal firearm should surrender it to police.
” I have asked the Minister for Police, Paul Whelan, to widely publicise the amnesty, ” Mr Carr said.
” The amnesty means the owner of an illegal and prohibited firearm can hand it over to the police without fear of prosecution. ”
The Victorian Government announced a permanent gun amnesty on Tuesday and Mr Carr said then that he wanted an amnesty up and running in NSW as soon as possible.
He made the announcement yesterday after returning from the funeral of Senior Constable Peter Addison, who with his partner, Senior Constable Robert Spears, was gunned down outside a house at Crescent Head on the NSW mid-north coast on Sunday morning.
The pair had gone to the address in response to a domestic dispute.
The gunman, John McGowan, shot himself in the head later.
He had made his Ruger 14 mini-rank rifle illegal by attaching two magazines so the weapon could fire 30 rounds without reloading. The legal limit is five.
And police said the rifle was not licensed.
” The challenge we face here is that there was a gun, illegal under NSW law, in the possession of someone who did not have a shooter’s licence, ” Mr Carr said.
” Now obviously an amnesty that would drain the number of guns out of the community makes sense. ”
NSW had a gun amnesty after the August 1991 Strathfield massacre when Wade Frankum opened fire and shot dead six people in a suburban shopping plaza before turning the gun on himself.
In April 1994, the NSW Police Service switched on its Computerised Operational Policing System list, on which the name and address of every licensed shooter in the state is on the computer database.
There is a also a “persons’ of special interest” category on COPS which would cater for people with a psychological history of violence or a criminal record.
Coastal holiday village woken to the sound of murder
KEMPSEY: The serenity of a north-coast township was broken early yesterday when two police officers were shot dead while on duty and their killer committed suicide by turning his gun on himself.
Police said that just after 1am Senior Constables Peter Addison and Robert Spears, both aged 36, had arrived at a house in Crescent Head, 21km south-east of Kempsey, in response to a call about malicious damage to a car.
Within minutes, the pair, who had transferred to Kempsey with their young families about six months ago, were gunned down as they walked toward the house, by a man reportedly drunk and depressed over a failed love affair.
Police have confirmed that no one else was in the house with the man.
Nearby residents heard a series of shots and shouting then further blasts from a semi-automatic rifle as 35-year-old electrician John McGowan tried to comprehend his deed.
Special Protection Group members and negotiators from Sydney were rushed to the house, and residents were warned to stay in doors.
Traffic was barred from entering the town.
Anita Crowley, who lives a few streets away from the shooting, said she was woken up by the shots.
“I thought it was firecrackers,” she said. “I heard somebody shouting and yelling ‘ get down ‘.”
Police said negotiators were assessing the situation when, just before 9am, McGowan’s body was found on the front lawn of the house. He had turned the gun on himself and died from a single gunshot wound to the head.
The small town is now trying to come to terms with how a man who seemed “just a normal bloke” could shoot two police officers.
One resident, who did not want to be named, said McGowan was well-known. “He was just a normal bloke, just a resident of Crescent Head,” the man said.
“He was a bloke who would go to the club once a week, have a drink with mates, go to work five days a week.”
Another resident, who lives close to Walker Street, said: “This is just a quiet little holiday village where people come to enjoy themselves. This is the last thing you would expect from it.”
Kempsey’s Mayor, Stuart McIntyre, whose shire takes in Crescent Heads, said the shootings were an “absolute disaster” for the close-knit community, which has a population of 1200.
“It has absolutely stunned everybody,” Mr McIntyre said. “It’s one of those things which you think could never happen here.”
NSW Police Commissioner Tony Lauer said he was deeply saddened by the shooting.
“Two young police officers, going about their duties with commitment and dedication, have made the ultimate sacrifice while protecting their community,” Mr Lauer said in a statement. “These tragic events remind us of the unforeseen possibilities any police officer can face while performing their duties.”
NSW Police Association secretary Lloyd Taylor described the killings as “bad and a bloody disastrous day in policing”.
“Policing can be at times a mundane, sedentary job but it is also a job in which you can pay with your life,” Mr Taylor said.
He said the association had sent members to Kempsey to help the dead officers’ wives and children cope with the tragedy.
Local National Party MP Bruce Jeffery called for police to be issued with bullet-proof vests or soft body armour for all potentially dangerous situations.
“What has happened has highlighted the degree of danger police can face every day,” he said.
“The potential cost of these vests is a small consideration when you consider they would be protecting lives.”
The deaths of the constables brought the toll of NSW police shot and killed on duty to six in the past 10 years.
In 1986, Sergeant Paul Quinn died of a gunshot wound received on duty at Bathurst; in 1988 probationary Constable Sharon Wilson died after being accidently shot by a colleague at Leeton; in 1989, Constable Alan McQueen died after being shot when he and his partner disturbed a man trying to steal a car in central Sydney; and in 1992 Constable Juan Hernandez died when he accidently shot himself during weapons training at the Redfern Police Complex.
A police spokeswoman said Senior Constables Addison and Spears would be buried this week. The results of McGowan’s post-mortem examination should be released early this week.
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 – 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
Sharon is mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance
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 unveiled the new memorial plaque.
Alan Cope closes the ceremony. 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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Rank: Detective Senior Constable ( had only completed the Detectives course 1 mth prior to death )
Stations: North Sydney circa 1971 – 75, 21 Division ( Special Squad ) – death
Service: From 12 December 1966 to 15 October 1977 = 10+ years Service
Awards: No find on It’s An Honour
Born: ? ? 1946
Died on: 15 October 1977
Age: 30 – 31 old
Cause of death: Motor Vehicle Accident
Location of death: Southern Cross Drive, near the intersection of O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo
Funeral date: 20 October 1977
Funeral location: Cremated at Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park.
Buried at: Cremated at Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park. Ashes with family
Memorial at: ?
Senior Constable Lindsay Vincent GILFEATHER
As a kid, Lindsey used to ride Malibu Boards at Bronte Beach, NSW
[alert_green]LINDSAY IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_green]
About 9.30pm on 15 October, 1977 Senior Constable Gilfeather was driving a police car behind another vehicle in Southern Cross Drive, Waterloo. Near the intersection of O’Dea Avenue another vehicle made a right turn against the traffic lights in front of the two vehicles. Both vehicles took evasive action, skidded on the wet road and collided with each other. The police car then hit a telegraph pole. Senior Constable Gilfeather sustained extensive head and internal injuries and died a short time later. Constable 1st Class McKenzie was also injured, however he later recovered.
The constable was born in 1946 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 12 December, 1966. At the time of his death he was attached to the No. 21 Special Squad, Criminal Investigation Bureau.
William Edward KING
| 27/10/2012
William Edward KING
Late of East Gresford
New South Wales Police Force
[alert_yellow]Regd. # 8241[/alert_yellow]
Uniform # 720
Rank: Probationary Constable – appointed 7 November 1955
Senior Constable – appointed 7 November 1966
Senior Constable – Death
Stations: East Gresford Police Station
Service: From pre 7 November 1955 to 13 August 1971 = 15+ years Service
Awards: No find on It’s An Honour
Born: 31 January 1933
Died: 13 August 1971
Age: 38
Cause: Shot – Murdered
Event location: East Gresford Police residence
Funeral Date: ?
Funeral location: ?
Buried at: ?
[alert_green]William IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_green]
William KING
About 6.45pm on 13 August, 1971Senior Constable King went home to the East Gresford police residence for dinner. When he later answered a knock on the front door he was shot in the chest. He died a short time later. Enquiries later revealed that Senior Constable King had arrested the offender, a sixty-two year old labourer, the previous year for a drink driving offence (DUI). The offender was arrested two hours after the murder of Senior Constable King and later sentenced to life imprisonment.
The constable was born in 1933 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 7 November, 1955. At the time of his death he was stationed at East Gresford.
William Edward KING
Location of Police residence
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The Canberra Times Tuesday 17 August 1971 3 of 20
Murder of constable alleged
NEWCASTLE, Monday. — Mr Arthur Clement Warr, 63, timber worker, of Church Street, East Gresford, appeared in Maitland court today charged with the murder of Senior-constable William Edward King, of East Gresford, last Friday.
The police prosecutor, Sergeant B. Bourne, said it would be alleged that last Friday Mr Warr had drunk at a Gresford hotel then had driven to East Gresford police station and that when Constable King had come from the residence in uniform Mr Warr had shot and fatally wounded him with a .22 rifle.
The Canberra Times Friday 24 September 1971 page 6 of 18
Man for trial over death
NEWCASTLE, Thursday.
A 62-year-old labourer was committed in Maitland Court today for trial at the Newcastle Supreme Court on November 8 on a charge of murdering a policeman.
Mr Wilde, SM, refused bail for the man, Mr Arthur Clement Warr, of East Gresford, who is charged with having murdered Senior Constable William Edward King at East Gresford on August 13.
A Gresford station hand, Mr Howard Huckstadt, told the court that Mr Warr had sung out to him, “I shot King Billy”.
He said he had heard Mr Warr refer to Constable King, of Gresford police station, as “King Billy” before.
Mr Warr had asked him if he had any bullets, but he had replied, “no”. He had then said that he had wanted the bullets “to shoot the cop that would come after him”.
Mr Huckstadt said he had asked Mr Warr why he shot Constable King and Mr Warr had replied, “He was all the time picking on me”.
The Canberra Times Saturday 20 November 1971 page 12 of 42
‘Life’ for murder
NEWCASTLE, Friday. — Mr Arthur Clement Warr, 63, fencing contractor, of Gresford, was jailed for life at Newcastle Supreme Court today for the murder of a police constable.
He had pleaded not guilty to a charge of having murdered Constable William Edward King, 38, at Gresford on August 13. Mr Warr did not give evidence or make a statement during his trial.
*** Although NOT confirmed, another article was found with this offenders name and the age between 1943 – 1971 is correct. ***
The Sydney Morning Herald Tuesday 31 August 1943 page 3 of 9
MILITIAMEN ON THEFT CHARGE
U.S. Army Clothing
Charges of having stolen United States Army clothing at Alexandria railway goods yard on August 17 were made against three australian militiamen, at a court-martial yesterday.
They were Privates Roy Westland Smith, 20; Arthur Edward Roberts, 47: and Arthur Clement Warr, 34.,
Alternative charges of having been unlawfully in possession of the goods were dismissed. On the charges of stealing the Court did not announce its decision.
Evidence was that the three men, members of an employment unit, were on duty at the goods yard unloading trucks. A warrant officer said that he saw the accused moving between two lines of trucks in a shed, and on being challenged they dropped several pairs of United States Army trousers.
Each of the accused said he had seen the articles lying on the ground and had picked them up, intending to examine the article in a better light. It was unusual, they said, to see anything lying about in the yards.
At a previous trial, Private John Henry Hanson, 27 was charged with having unlawfully removed a case containing 24 pairs of United States Army trousers from a railway truck at Alexandria on August 17.
Hanson, who pleaded not guilty, said he had not touched any of the clothing.
POLICE KILLED OR WHO DIED FROM INJURIES RECEIVED IN THE EXECUTION OF THEIR DUTIES
On 13th August, 1971, Senior Constable William Edward King, who was then the officer-in-charge of police, East Gresford, was shot dead at East Gresford Police Station by a man who fired upon him with a rifle.
On 29th August, 1971, Constable 1st Class Patrick Mark Hackett died from injuries received in a motor accident at Polis, Cyprus, whilst performing duty with the New South Wales Police component of the Australian Police Contingent of the United Nations Peace Keeping Force.
On 30th September, 1971, Sergeant Second Class William Watson Riley and Senior Constable Maurice Raymond McDiarmid, both then attached to Blacktown Police Station, were shot dead in a house at Toongabbie which they had entered to arrest a man who a short time before had murdered his brother and raped a woman in the same house.
A police funeral with full ceremonial honours was accorded these deceased officers at which appropriate tributes were paid.
In recognition of their outstanding courage Sergeant Riley and Senior Constable McDiarmid were posthumously promoted by me to Sergeant 1st Class and Sergeant 3rd Class respectively. In addition, I submitted recommendations to the Premier for favour of consideration of Royal Awards being granted in both cases.
To assist the widows of the deceased police the Premier approved the payment to each of them of the sum of $12,500 as a gratuity. This payment did not in any way affect their entitlements to payments under the provisions of the Police Regulation (Superannuation) Act.
On 29 July, 1948 Constable Graham was riding a police motor cycle outfit along the Bermagui-Cobargo Road.
At the time the constable was riding along an unfamiliar area in an effort to locate and apprehend a rape suspect.
As he was negotiating a sharp bend in the roadway, the cycle skidded in loose gravel, left the roadway and mounted an embankment. It then tipped over, pinning the constable beneath it.
Constable Graham was admitted to the Bega District Hospital suffering from internal injuries, including a ruptured kidney and concussion.
Over the ensuing years his health deteriorated due to the original injuries and he died on Thursday 25 April, 1958.
The constable was born in Tamworth in 1915 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on Saturday 14 June, 1947.
At the time of his death he was stationed at Bodalla.
The three Police Officers were involved in numerous rescues/incidents in the Blue Mountains.
Photo taken outside Sinclair Motor Garage, Katoomba (unknown date)
Sgt Edwin Pratt from 1930 holding the grandmother of Leanne Bailey ( 2013 )
Constable 1st Class Edwin Oliver PRATT
70 years AFTER Sgt Pratt was Killed On Duty and this is his Unmarked grave at Katoomba Cemetery ( 2015 ) ( The Anderson grave is there as a reference point only ) Click photo to enlarge
In early 2017, thanks to the efforts of Ian COLLESS, NSWPF, Edwin’s grave went from an unmarked grave to having an appropriate headstone placed at the spot that Edwin, his wife and son now, forever, Rest In Peace.
Eucser Haze – Beyond Courage 24 August 2017 · Just one more update on Sgt Pratt’s grave with a NSW Police crest added to the marker. My thanks to John McDiarmid and NSWPF Protocol for their assistance. Olwyn Danny Ken for your information.
[alert_green]EDWIN IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_green]
On the night of 1 October, 1948 Sergeant Pratt was directing traffic at a railway crossing at Katoomba. About 8.50pm a truck passed over the crossing and as it passed the sergeant attempted to walk behind it, not realising it was towing a timber jinker. Unfortunately the sergeant was hit by the jinker which inflicted severe injuries. He died on 19 November, 1948. He was survived by his wife Alma, sons Kevin and Ian, and daughter Olwyn.
The sergeant was born in 1904 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 14 May, 1924. At the time of his death he was stationed at Katoomba.
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On Thursday, 10 August 2017, the son-in-law – Retired Sgt 3rd Class Scott EDMONDS – married to Edwins daughter – Olwyn, passed away and was married to Olwyn for 51 years at the time.
[blockquote]
The death of Edwin has been widely circulated as having occurred on the 19 October 1948 which is INCORRECT and as of 30 October 2013, steps have been taken to have the correct date of 19 November 1948 recorded on all official touchstones and publications.
As of 14 October 2016, having checked the online website of the National Police Memorial, the data on the website HAS been changed to reflect the correct date of death as NOVEMBER BUT, unfortunately, the actual Touch Plate has NOT been altered and still displays ( as of Police Remembrance Day 2016 ) the incorrect date.
Unfortunately, the NSW Police Protocol Unit have done nothing to alter the Official website of http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/about_us/proud_traditions where the INCORRECT date is still reflected. I have, this date, sent a message to the Webmaster for NSWPF to action the website.
As of 9 March 2017 – I have never received a response to the message I sent to the Webmaster
The protocol Unit is located at:
NSW Police Protocol Unit
Level 6/ 151-241 Goulburn St (Riley St)
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Australia
Would have been nice if NSW Police Protocol Unit had let others know that they had actioned the matter in relation to the National Wall but I have now found out ( Friday 14 October 2016 ), that the actual Touch Plate on the National Wall of Remembrance has NOT been changed to reflect the correct date.
National Wall of Remembrance – Canberra Sergeant Third Class Edwin Oliver PRATT Katoomba New South Wales 19 October1948 ” October ” is incorrect. Correct month should show “November “
[/blockquote]
[divider_dotted]
BDM – Birth = 14621/1904 to Charles P. & Caroline A. Pratt at Narrandera.
BDM – Marriage = 10147/1934 to Alma C. NEVILLE in Sydney
BDM – Death = 29635/1948. Charles Pacey PRATT & Caroline Ann PRATT.
Today I remember all those that have gone before us, regardless of how they died or whether their name is recorded on a wall, or monument, or not.
I specifically spare a thought for those that lay in unmarked graves throughout the state-we shouldn’t permit this to happen or continue. For that very reason a special thought for Sgt 3rd Class Pratt killed in 1948 whose grave is pictured below.
Olwyn Pratt Edmonds That tiny cross was placed there by his granddaughter Stephanie and her children during the last school holidays.,I have not been there since I was a child as I didn’t know where to find it till recent years. I went there as a teenager looking for a headstone, but as we now know , there wasn’t one to find. Only in recent years was I able to find the location.
About unmarked police graves. I have been waiting for about 4 years for the Police Department to erect a headstone for my father Sgt 3/c Edwin Oliver Pratt. Promises promises. Last time I heard months ago that they were in the process of getting quote from stone mason for a full grave marker., but nothing since. The officer in charge is a very busy man indeed, so I do try to understand the delay. Would like to see it done in my lifetime.
Greg CallanderDid you check the PM that another member sent to you recently. It should be in your Others folder under messages about money towards the gravestone.
On this day 67years ago my father Sgt 3/c Edwin Oliver Pratt passed away after being injured in a motor vehicle accident on the railway crossing in Katoomba 6 weeks earlier.R.I.P
Comments
Rhonda Turnerinjured on police duty and aged just 44 when he died….. so sad for you then and now, Olwyn
Rod PrattThanks for going to the trouble of putting this on the page. I have been asked a lot if Sgt. Ed Pratt was related to me, and to be honest, I didn’t know. My dad was from Junee, and died when I was young, so I never really got the chance to find out a lot about him. When I saw the death certificate, and the fact that Ed Pratt was also from Junee, I went digging into state records and found that he was my fathers cousin. We have a lot of links with NSWPF, but mostly on my mothers side, and it was great to discover this new link. Police Remembrance Day has always been a big issue with me, due to the mates I have lost in the job, this is an even stronger link. Cheers Greg
Greg CallanderThat is cool Rod Pratt. I was contacted, a year or two ago, by Olwyn Pratt ( https://www.facebook.com/olwyn.prattedmonds?fref=ts ) who is the daughter of Ed. I would assume that she will have more information on Ed and, maybe, your father. It is certainly worth contacting her. Olwyn isn’t a member of this particular FB Group but is a member of NSW Fallen Police FB Group. I tried to ‘tag’ her to this message but, because she isn’t on this page, wasn’t able to.
Leanne Bailey This happened at Katoomba. The only other story I know was that he had about 12 children, and sometimes would have a few of them balanced all over his bicycle in the afternoon, taking them for a ride down High street and to the river for a swim.
feeling sad.