Rank: Probationary Constable – appointed 9 September 1988
Senior Constable – death
Stations: ?, State Transfers – Parramatta, Water Police during 2000 Olympics ( Jet ski ), Broken Bay Water Police – death
Service: From: attested 9 September 1988 to 1 June 2002 = 13+ years Service
Awards: ?
Born: 9 October 1966
Died on: 1 June 2002
Cause: Football injury
Age: ?
Funeral date: ?
Funeral location: ?
Buried at: Cremated.
Ashes were spread off Resolute Beach, Pittwater, Kurinai National Park
[alert_blue]ANDREW is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_blue] *NOT WORK RELATED
Senior Constable Andrew Warner
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From the history of the Hornsby Rugby Club. – The club endured a particularly tragic event on June 1st 2002 when first grade playerAndrew Warner died as a result of injuries sustained during a home game against Oatley Rugby Club match at Waitara oval.
Andrew was a club stalwart who had played over 100 games for the club and was also a coach with the club.
Andrew is remembered at the annual Back to Hornsby day when the first grade teams play for the Andrew Warner Memorial trophy.
** FURTHER INFORMATION NEEDED **
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From David Buchanan: Wednesday 14 February 2018:
This is the funeral for Andy Warner in June 2002. (This is perhaps the only photo where you will witness the NSW Water Police marching.)
Andy was attached to Broken Bay Water Police at the time of his death. He tragically died as a result of an accident playing football at Waitara on the 1st June 2002. He was a well-liked member of the Broken Bay unit – and the entire Water Police, his football club and the local community.
His death made us realise how close Police are around this nation. I was working with Craig Goozee on that day, and Andy’s mates informed us of the accident and his subsequent death soon after it occurred. Apart from the obvious shock and grief that Craig and I had at the time, we set about making the necessary phonecalls and enquiries to one and all, but we learned that Andy’s parents were somewhere in northern Australia between Katherine and Broome on a caravanning holiday – and no phone contact. (I might add that many members of our Water Police unit just came into work to assist wherever they could.) Craig and I thought this was going to be a lengthy process in locating them. We found them after 3 phonecalls and advice from the local coppers – Katherine Police, the NT/WA border station, and Kununurra Police in WA. The Senior Constable at Kununurra located Andy’s parents them within 10 minutes after the call, but before delivering the message, he gathered the local clergy as support. Still hard to believe that we had located Andy’s parents within the hour.
What occurred after resulted in commendations being delivered via our commissioner. The local police in WA and NT pooled together and drove Andy’s parents in relay to Darwin, organised and placed them on a flight to Sydney. They also drove their car and caravan from Kununurra to Katherine and placed same in safe storage. Made us realise that Police are all a family no matter what uniform they wear.
Andy Warner’s ashes were spread off Resolute Beach in Pittwater, a remote and peaceful beach in the Kuringai National Park. RIP Andy.
This is perhaps the only photo where you will witness the NSW Water Police marching.
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Richard John HAZEL
| 15/04/2019
Richard John HAZEL
aka Rick
New South Wales Police Force
Regd. # ?
Rank: Detective
Stations: Redfern ( about 1985 ), Kings Cross
Awards: ?
Service: From ? to ?
Born: ?
Age: ?
Died: September 2002
Cause: Suicide at Caringbah. Knife in the chest, but also a suspected murder.
Funeral date: ?
Funeral location: ?
Grave site: ?
FURTHER INFORMATION IS NEEDED ON THIS PERSON
[alert_yellow]HAZEL is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_yellow]
It should be noted that there was a suicide of a former Police officer by the name of Hazell who killed himself allegedly surrounded by news articles of the 1996 Royal Commission, in which he had been summonsed as a witness at the time.
It shows the long lasting and continued effects of the Royal Commission on those involved.
Glen McNamara – who was set up in the police force by corrupt officers he investigated, then was cleared, then pensioned off – is presented here as the archetypal honest cop who flew in the face of a corrupt system and was savaged by it. Even though he is writing about himself, it has a ring of authenticity. A former investigator with the National Crime Authority and with the NSW Police, where he was a detective stationed in Kings Cross and Sydney’s south, he gave evidence to the NSW Police Royal Commission about alleged police protection of paedophiles.
With Savage Obsessions: True Crime from the Streets of Kings Cross, McNamara has joined other former police, such as former assistant commissioner Clive Small, in writing about crime, capitalising on its popularity – as exemplified by the success of the Underbelly TV series – and drawing on the vast volume of inside information available to police.
His chapters are fairly short and each tells a different story. But the linking theme, about criminal obsession (”The criminal mind is self-obsessed and determined, and I realised that this trait knows no boundaries, professional or otherwise”) seems to work.
What amounts to a series of snapshots of police work does give some revealing insights, including into the corruption and brutality once prevalent in Kings Cross, seen from the inside.
Savage Obsessions by Glen McNamara. New Holland, $29.95.
Some insights are new, such as the horrific sexual abuse paedophile ”Dolly” Dunn committed while on the staff of Catholic schools – an aspect of Dunn’s life hinted at but never disclosed. It does raise the question of how he continued so long.
McNamara confirms what was suggested as a defence in the Schapelle Corby case, that there has been a corrupt ring of airport baggage handlers dealing in illicit drugs, and mentions the case of an unnamed couple who got right through the international barriers and then found drugs in their bag.
He goes in detail into the wretched tangle surrounding drug dealer Warren Lanfranchi and his supposed girlfriend Sally Ann Huckstepp. Also, he deals with the wretchedness of Rick Hazell, who was drawn into paedophile protection, gave evidence to the Police Royal Commission and died in circumstances a coroner found were an accident but which McNamara believes was murder.
Like any account by a former cop, the presentation is all black and white, with no attempt at interpretation on sociological lines. People are either law abiders or rotters.
There could be no compassion for sex offender Bruce Synold who, according to McNamara, boasted that he would crawl naked into people’s bedrooms, slither across the floor like a snake and touch the sleeping couple lightly ”to see if they would stir”. Or cat burglar John Harvey Rider, who sneaked into the bedrooms of sleeping children. There is no doubt that a ”homicidal maniac”, Mark Hampson, with his Rasputin-like beard and his penchant for swords, was a bad man. And so were rapist Bilal Skaf and adoptive parent-killer Heidi McGarvie.
But the selection of cases rather glosses over, by omission, the vast array of other stories that could be told about people who have committed offences. Qualifications can be written into some accounts of crime to explain how these dreadful things happened. And, from time to time, how people are wrongly convicted.
SAVAGE OBSESSIONS Glen McNamara New Holland, 147pp, $29.95
Senior Constable BAIRD was an officer who was diagnosed with a psychiatric illness following his treatment at work in the Eastern Suburbs. He was medically discharged from the NSW Police in 1997. The Police denied that his illness was as a result of his employment. He contested this in the Workers Compensation Court in 2001 with further hearings in 2002. Mr Baird committed suicide in 2002 before the decision of the Compensation Court was handed down. Can you say what the decision was particularly if it was in his favour?
[alert_red]Keith is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_red]
INCOMPLETE
Kristine WOODS
| 15/04/2019
Kristine WOODS nee BUTT
( late of Cherrybrook & Ryde )
New South Wales Police Force
Original Regd. # 25??? ( joined around 1988 )
Rejoinee Regd. # 33682 ( rejoined in 1998 )
Rank: Senior Constable
Stations: Eastwood
Service: ( 1 ) From ???to ??? = ? years Service
( 2 ) Rejoinee – From? ? 1998 to 21 March 2002 = ? years Service
Awards: ? – Nil on It’s an Honour
Born: 29 January 1969
Died: 21 March 2002
Age: 33
Cause: Suicide – Service pistol to chest – inside Eastwood Police Station
Funeral date: Tuesday 26 March 2002 @ 1pm
Funeral location: St Charles Catholic Church, 582 Victoria Rd, Ryde
Grave location: ?
Kristine is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance
]
List of the fallen should include all the victims
Date
LETTERS
Lest we forget … Police Remembrance Day. Photo: Robert Pearce
Another week, another death of a citizen at the hands of the NSW Police (”High noon at Castle Hill”, September 30). It’s a week which saw the inquest into the police shooting of Adam Salter inside his own home; a week which saw a teenage victim of robbery shot in the stomach by another cop. And now we are led to believe that a man who apparently travelled to a police station needed to be pumped full of bullets in order to be subdued. Who goes towards a police station to make trouble?
All this in the same week that Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione led his officers in another Remembrance Day for his fallen comrades, the list of which is displayed on the NSW Police website as an honour roll. The list omits the name of Senior Constable Kristine Woods, who died by her own hand on duty at Eastwood Police Station. In fact, almost the only Google reference to Ms Woods is a Hansard entry.
The NSW Police don’t list the names of innocent citizens its own members have killed. When yet another member of the public is gunned down by a blue shirt, we hear that “the officer is receiving counselling and support”. No mention is ever made of any counselling offered to the family or friends of the real victim. The bitter juxtaposition of all these events seems to have also missed the media.
A decade after the police royal commission revealed systemic corruption, the NSW Police Force is now more powerful, more numerous and less accountable than ever.
v. KRISTINE WOODS Constable Woods was stationed at Eastwood. In November 2001 Woods and her husband divorced and shared joint custody rights over their two children. In March 2002 Woods committed suicide at work.
Mr TINK (Epping) [3.38 p.m.]: I draw the attention of the House to the Epping Youth Development Group, otherwise known as the Shack. Following the compilation of a youth-at-risk study reflecting the needs of local Epping youth the Shack was found in 1992 by a group of concerned local residents, churches and businessmen. They have been operating from a disused scout hall that was converted into a counselling and recreation facility at that time. The Shack has to be seen to be believed—it is just that. There are exciting plans for a new building. The management committee, which meets monthly, comprises 10 members from the local community who voluntarily support the administration of the Shack.The Shack provides free and confidential service, home visits, counselling, family support, court support, resumé assistance, job board, youth and school liaison, health education, Centrelink assistance and referrals. The Manager of the Shack, Darlene Keenan, is an inspiration and is assisted by one other person. In the last 12 months the Shack has provided more than 800 hours of counselling for 385 people, 111 hours of court support to 44 people, 422 hours of home visits involving 127 people and many other sundry services. To try to move away from the statistics and into what the program is really about, I will read from what Darlene had to say in the annual report:
Family breakdown, separation from parents, drug and alcohol abuse, violence, sexual assault, suicide, teenage pregnancy, neglect, lack of education, unemployment and homelessness, and cultural beliefs are common issues affecting our young people in life altering ways. Behaviour is also very changeable and very real whilst any of these factors are alive.
High expectations in regard to education has seen many clients showing signs of stress where counselling has been necessary to keep self-esteem tuned. Young people suspended have further problems if they link with idle peers.
Intervention for our young showing suicidal tendencies has seen much progress in positive ways this year. Teenagers are scared, fragile and limited to rise above these very real emotions. Having positive referrals for extra support has proven to be a healing ingredient whilst temptations are being tested. Those wanting to resolve their fears and pain through suicide are just so entrenched with pain and overloaded with many challenges.
This lady and her supporters really work miracles. They are working at the very hard business end of youth at risk, so much so that their program is being copied elsewhere. The Rotary Club of Lindfield is setting up another Shack under the same program and principles. This is policing at its absolute best. I pay tribute to the links between Eastwood police and this operation. Constable Tim Drury, the Youth Liaison Officer from Eastwood police, has made a fantastic effort. Senior Constable Kristine Woods, who unfortunately took her own life at Eastwood police station, was an outstanding supporter of the Shack and did great work at all times with youth in the area. Senior Constable Rowena Thompson, Sergeant Jacky Lilley and Sergeant Bob Porter—who I understand is about to retire from the New South Wales Police Service—do magnificent work. It is an example of how our police and community workers can work together to make a difference for kids who are at high risk of ending up on the wrong side of the law.
It is important to note that the Shack would not be celebrating 10 years of effort in the community without the support of St Albans Church and Reverend John Cornish, and the tremendous support previously given by the former chairman, Mr Alan Gurman and Cathy Sanderson. The present chairman, Mr Ray Miles, from Associated Planners, provides unstinting support. The support through the church and its work in the area and a diverse range of clubs—the Rotary Club of Thornleigh, the Epping RSL and community club and all the voluntary groups and church groups throughout the area—for the operation must be seen to be believed. The Shack is presenting final plans to St Albans Church for approval for a rebuild. Preliminary approval for the plans has already been given to the initial sketches provided by the church. I wish the Shack well. I am delighted to be associated with it and with a program that really supports the kids at risk and, in doing so, takes some risks itself. It is to be commended for its work. [Time expired.]
Mr FACE (Charlestown—Minister for Gaming and Racing, and Minister Assisting the Premier on Hunter Development) [3.43 p.m.]: I thank the honourable member for Epping for bringing this matter to the notice of the House. It reinforces what I said a few moments ago about volunteers, Charity Awareness Week, and people who put so much effort and time into serving other people within our community. Although I am not directly aware of the group’s activities, because it started towards the end of the time that I was the chairman of police youth clubs in this State, I know that it was one of the more diverse organisations that was helping kids, particularly recedivist kids and youth at risk that a lot of other organisations were not prepared to help. That was at a time when the police youth club movement was moving away, to some degree, from completely structured organisations and what the original youth clubs were set up for, which has been of considerable benefit.
This is another great effort of a community accepting its responsibility to ensure that it is able to contend with people who, in many cases, are less fortunate than others. They are not always people from lower socioeconomic circumstances. It can be a result of communication breakdowns regardless of where they sit in the social strata. During my time as chairman of the police youth clubs I became aware that many kids were lonely and in need of someone to put a hand out to them—some of them were from the so-called better areas of my electorate and other parts of this State. The Shack is doing a great deal of good work. The community is to be congratulated on its efforts.
[10.20 p.m.]: Tonight I speak on the dereliction of policing services in the Ryde area. While the Commissioner of Police, Peter Ryan, was seeing the sights of Athens, the people in the Ryde area were suffering from an ill-equipped police force and falling police numbers. The Minister for Police said that all police, including the commissioner, would be involved in regular street patrols, but while Commissioner Ryan takes time out to see the sights of Salt Lake City or to pay a visit to the Parthenon, the people of Ryde are being neglected with a diminishing police presence.
On 6 March the
Northern District Times
reported that police would be having a three-day operation in the West Ryde area, getting to know the people and letting them know that they are out and about. For three days people in the West Ryde area got to know who some of the officers that served and protected them were, but a month later the question is: Where are they now? For three days in March the citizens of West Ryde got to see some police patrolling their streets but now they have been taken away, back to their desks perhaps or to other poorly equipped areas. Maybe the police were merely there for the show, to appease the community’s justified concerns about the level of crime. However, having a three-day operation does not show that the police are serious about maintaining a real presence on the streets.
Late last month a 16-year-old boy walking through Boronia Park in Ryde was assaulted and had his mobile phone and wallet stolen by two men, one of whom punched him in the back of the head. On 28 March a security guard was badly beaten during a ram-raid at the Fujitsu warehouse in North Ryde. Perhaps Commissioner Ryan should spend less time on his passion of Olympic security consulting in Athens and visit the streets of West Ryde, where there is still a marked lack of police. Perhaps he will be sent there around the time of the next election for a day trip, but there needs to be a genuine lift in the level of service for the people of the Ryde area long before then.
Police are desperately needed by the community, and after the tragic murder of Constable Glenn McEnallay and the suicide of Senior Constable Kristine Woods at Eastwood police station on 21 March, it is time for Commissioner Ryan to show some leadership and to help the police force get back to the basics of serving the community. Police are needed on the streets to fight crime, not for three-day operations that merely serve as a political stunt, similar to the stunt that was viewed by all in the Auburn by-election last year.
On 12 December 2001, the West Ryde Chamber of Commerce wrote to the honourable member for Ryde regarding police numbers, the lack of patrols in the area and the physical remoteness of West Ryde from Gladesville police station—Gladesville being the station that serves the people of West Ryde. What was the result? Merely the three-day operation I have referred to that took place early in March, not a real commitment to increasing police numbers and improving the quality of service. The police Minister likes to make an announcement almost daily about his finesse in fighting crime, but when it comes down to it, when we see where the promises are allegedly being acted upon, the result is disappointment—like the disappointment for the people of the Ryde area.
Superintendent Arthur Katsogiannis, who was appointed commander of Gladesville police station in January this year, is the sixth commander of the station in the past four years. Police in Gladesville must find it difficult to do an effective job with so many different commanders, no doubt all of whom have a different way of performing their job, different ideas and different ways of running the station. The residents of Ryde are being punished because of the commissioner’s inability to appoint a commander who will serve the community for a long period. Superintendent Katsogiannis has been appointed only until 31 December this year. Why has he not been given a longer contract? Clearly, Commissioner Ryan has very little faith in his local area commanders. This must be a terrible thing for police morale, prohibiting them from getting on with the job.
The people of the Ryde area need some stability and a serious police commitment on the streets so that levels of crime are reduced. People are still unsafe on the streets of Ryde. This clearly demonstrates that policing must be taken more seriously and that greater police numbers should be on the streets. There needs to be a genuine and substantial police presence in the Ryde area, not merely a passing show in the hope of buying a few votes for next year’s election.
Joe Doherty who is no longer with us had this on his wall at home. I took the photo as it looks impressive & also has an area where his name was added. Gordon Kelly
Senior Sergeant Joe DOHERTY was stationed at Helensburgh Police Station, Illawarra Region, for many years, being the Officer in Charge, until his transfer to The Rocks Police Station, Sydney.
Joe died from cancer on the 5 July 2002 aged 54.
He was a proud supporter of not Canterbury but.. “The Berries”.
Joe knew he was not going to beat the cancer & organised the pall bearers for his funeral by asking them personally before he finished up at work. Gordon Kelly was one asked to do this & Gordon is still proud of that.
Joe was a great bloke & is missed by many in his blue family I am sure.
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Death notices appeared on the 6 July 2002 in the Sydney Morning Herald, Illawarra Mercury and Daily Telegraph ( Sydney )
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Christopher John THORNTON
| 15/04/2019
Christopher John THORNTON
aka Thorno
“possible” relative(s) in “the job”: ?
Goulburn Police Academy Class # 228
New South Wales Police Force
ProCst # 98719
Regd. # 24117
Rank: Commenced Training at Goulburn Police Academy on Monday ? June 1987
Probationary Constable – appointed Friday 7 August 1987 ( aged 21 years, 3 months, 10 days )
Constable – appointed 7 August 1988
Senior Constable – death
Stations: ? Brisbane Waters GD’s ( 5 years ), Woy Woy HWP, Brisbane Waters HWP from 1989 ( Gosford )
Service: From ? June 1987to 13 April 2002 = 15 years Service
Awards: ? No find on It’s An Honour
Born: Thursday 28 April 1966
Died: Saturday 13 April 2002
Cause: Motor Vehicle Accident – Driver
Location: Hillview St & Nambucca Drive, Woy Woy
Age: 35 years, 11 months, 16 days
Funeral date: Friday 19 April 2002
Funeral location: Newcastle’s Christ Church Cathedral
Barry and Freada Thornton with their son Chris at his graduation in 1987
Touch plate for Chris Thornton at the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra.
About 6.10pm on 13 April, 2002 the senior constable was driving a Highway Patrol vehicle in Hillview Street, Woy Woy. When the vehicle reached the intersection of Nambucca Drive, it collided with another vehicle before leaving the roadway and hitting a power pole. Senior Constable Thornton sustained extensive injuries and died at the scene of the accident.
The constable was born in 1966 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 7 August, 1987. At the time of his death he was attached to the Brisbane Water Highway Patrol.
Christopher IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance
Location of collision:
The cross we made for you and put in still looks as beautiful today as when we first placed it. I will always miss you my brother from another mother. I will miss sharing our birthdays together and miss your stupid sense of humor, love you always “Plod”. Miss you forever! X Sim McCarthy – NSW Fallen Police FB Group. 19 April 2017
In April 2002, Senior Constable Chris Thornton was involved in a pursuit of a speeding motorist when his vehicle was struck by another vehicle that failed to stop. Thornton died as a result of the injuries received when his vehicle collided with a pole. The offending vehicle was located and the driver arrested and charged.
Lean on me … grieving colleagues comfort each other. Photo: Liam Driver
Police officers were again united in grief yesterday in mourning one of their own for the second time in less than two weeks.
Newcastle’s Christ Church Cathedral was a sea of blue as hundreds of officers remembered Senior Constable Chris Thornton, 35, killed when his patrol car crashed into a power pole in Woy Woy last Saturday.
After the service, police lined both sides of the road to form a guard of honour as hundreds more, including acting Commissioner Ken Moroney, marched to the sombre beat of a drum.
A 56-year-old man has been charged in relation to the incident, which has rocked the force just weeks after Constable Glenn McEnallay was shot dead in a car chase in Sydney.
Many officers at yesterday’s service had donned their dress uniforms on April 9 for Constable McEnallay‘s funeral.
The Police Minister, Michael Costa, was at yesterday’s service, slipping quietly in and out of the cathedral, almost unnoticed among the crowd of more than 1000.
Mr Moroney used the occasion to call for public support.
“While nothing can make up for his passing, the heartfelt reaction of the communities Chris grew up in, then later served, will mean his death was not in vain,” Mr Moroney said.
“It has also made people realise the extraordinary work our police do in creating a safer society.”
His words were echoed by the Anglican Dean of Newcastle, the Very Rev Graeme Lawrence, who called on society to renew its respect for members of the police.
“In some ways that word is an old-fashioned concept, but one we would do well to revive,” he said.
“As a person and a police officer, Chris earned that respect, admiration and affection.”
Senior Constable Thornton‘s partner of six years, Sarah Matthews, stood alongside Dean Lawrence in the street as the hearse moved slowly away to the beat of the drum.
Earlier she had wept as close friend John Kinney told the gathering how “Thorno” had paid the ultimate price of police service.
“He swerved to miss another vehicle and chose to risk himself for another person, paying the ultimate price for his courage and honour,” Mr Kinney said.
“To me that is Christopher John Thornton, my mate, a man anyone would be proud to say they knew.”
North metropolitan region police commander, assistant commissioner Bob Waites, has described the death of senior constable Chris Thornton on April 13 as “devastating”.
“His death has had a dramatic effect on his colleagues, more so, because he was one of the first people to offer help to workmates after hours, and also at work,” assistant commissioner Waites said.
“I had the pleasure and honour of knowing Chris personally.
“He was a person who loved to have a good time, while also having a lot of common sense,” he said.
Senior Constable Thornton, who lived with his partner of six years, Sarah, attended the Police College at Goulburn in 1987.
Since his graduation that same year, Senior Constable Thornton had worked within the Brisbane Water Command, initially as a general duties officer, before joining highway patrol in 1989.
Ten of his 15 years as a policeman were spent working as a highway patrol officer.
Senior Constable Thornton was travelling north along Hillview St in Woy Woy about 6.10pm on Saturday, April 13, when the marked vehicle he was driving crashed into a power pole.
The 35-year-old police officer died at the scene as a result of his injuries.
A 56-year-old man, Leonard Allan Rowley, has been charged with several driving offences in connection with the accident.
Commissioner Peter Ryan and Deputy Commissioner Operations Dave Madden attended the scene on the night of the accident.
The pole on Hillview St where Senior Constable Thornton was killed.
The New South Wales Opposition has called on the Attorney-General to override the Director of Public Prosecutions and launch an appeal against a sentence given to the driver of a car that hit and killed a highway patrol officer.
Leonard Allan Rowley walked free after receiving a two-year suspended sentence for an incident that claimed the life of Senior Constable Chris Thornton in his highway patrol car on Hillview Street in Woy Woy.
Opposition leader John Brogden says, given that Rowley had been drinking, was unlicensed and fled the scene, it is unacceptable that the DPP will not lodge an appeal.
The patrol officer’s widow Sarah Matthews says it is an insult and urges the Attorney-General to step in.
“It astounds me,” Ms Matthews said.
“This is a legal system that Chris believed in, he stood behind and he enforced every day and now it’s let him down.”
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:
FREADA and Barry Thornton’s hearts skipped a beat when they heard about the death of young detective Will Crews.
It may be nearly nine years since their son Chris Thornton was killed on duty, but the Blackalls Park couple said it still felt like yesterday.
“You learn to try and get on with your life, you have to,” Mrs Thornton said yesterday.
“But it is a shock.
“Another one, another young life. So, so young.”
Mrs Thornton said her heart went out to Senior Constable Crews’s family as they attempt to deal with the loss.
“We know what it is like and we know it took us four or five years before we could get ourselves going again,” she said.
“We just couldn’t do anything for years, it gutted us.”
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Senior Constable Thornton was in pursuit at Woy Woy on April 13, 2002, when his vehicle hit a power pole, killing him.
The Thorntons will attend another police remembrance day at the end of this month, like they have done every year since that day. The honour roll read out at the Christ Church Cathedral service will contain another name this year.
‘Our boys haven’t been forgotten’: Policemen honoured in Brisbane Water row
September 15, 2015 3:16pm
Geraldine Cardozo Central Coast Gosford Express Advocate
(L-R) Sarah Matthews, Kylie Kerr and Tracey Holt remember their police officer partners at Gosford waterfront. Brisbane Water LAC officers will be taking to the water in honour of the policemen.
When Sarah Matthews returned home after her shift at Gosford Hospital on the evening of April 13, 2002 and spotted a row of waiting police cars she thought the neighbours were having a noisy party.
“It never struck me what was coming next,” remembers the emergency nurse who was told the worst — her fiancé Senior-Constable Chris Thornton had been killed on duty hours earlier.
“It didn’t hit me. Even when I was told. I don’t think that’s something that ever leaves you.”
This week Miss Matthews, Kylie Kerr and Tracey Holt will get together to remember their partners, Sen-Constable Thornton, Sen-Constable Peter Gordon Wilson and Sergeant Richard Whittaker, who all died on duty while with the Brisbane Water Local Area Command.
(L-R) Brisbane Water Inspector Paul Nicholls, Tracey Holt, Brisbane Water Commander Daniel Sullivan, Sarah Matthews and Kylie Kerr at Gosford Waterfront ahead of the NSW Police Legacy row. Picture: Mark Scott
On Thursday officers from Brisbane Water LAC will take part in a paddle to raise money for NSW Police Legacy to support the families of fallen officers.
“You never want to be a part of Legacy but now we are part of this unique group and without Legacy we wouldn’t have each other,” Miss Matthews said.
But for two of the women, the close bond was forged by their shared loss and haunting similarities in how their partners lost their lives.
Sen-Constable Thornton, 35, died in a motor vehicle accident while on patrol in Woy Woy in 2002, while Mrs Kerr’s long-term partner Sen-Constable Wilson, 41, was killed when he was hit by a car while carrying out speed checks on the M1 at Somersby in 2006.
Both men were based at Brisbane Water LAC, both died in car accidents on a Saturday night, and both had the same patrol car number — 202.
Senior Constable Peter Gordon Wilson with fiancé Kylie Kerr.
“This special event means our boys haven’t been forgotten,” Miss Matthews said, adding that the support of Legacy has enabled her to move on. “You have to take that step forward. You can’t be angry, because that just eats away at you.”
Senior Constable Chris Thornton was killed on duty during a high-speed pursuit at Woy Woy in 2002.
“This special event means our boys haven’t been forgotten,” Miss Matthews said, adding that the support of Legacy has enabled her to move on. “You have to take that step forward. You can’t be angry, because that just eats away at you.”
“This special event means our boys haven’t been forgotten,” Miss Matthews said, adding that the support of Legacy has enabled her to move on. “You have to take that step forward. You can’t be angry, because that just eats away at you.”
Mrs Holt, whose husband Sgt Whittaker was stationed at the Gosford drug unit and was involved in drug investigations at the time of his death when he died from a brain haemorrhage in 1991, said the annual paddle is a “beautiful day”. “It is amazing the effort Daniel Sullivan and the team put in to keep the memory going of old work mates and have a good time doing it,” she said.
Sergeant Richard Whittaker who died on duty with Brisbane Water Local Area Command in 1991. Picture: Supplied
Celeste Thornton March 12, 2020: Would like to get message to any colleges of Snr Const Chris Thornton who was killed on duty in 2002. Would like to let them know my parents and I are burying his older brother Leslie on Mon 16th March 2020 at Lake Macquarie memorial park 10am.
Glenn Edward McENALLAY
| 15/04/2019
Glenn Edward McENALLAY VA
aka Glenn McENALLAY
New South Wales Police Force
Goulburn Police Academy Class # 270
Regd. # 31940
Rank: Commenced Training at Goulburn Police Academy on Monday 19 May 1997 with Class # 270 ( aged 21 years, 2 months, 9 days )
Probationary Constable – appointed Friday 14 November 1997 ( aged 21 years, 8 months, 4 days )
Constable – appointed ? ? ?
Constable 1st Class – appointed ? ? ?
Final Rank: Constable 1st Class
Stations: Manning / Great Lakes ( ProCst ), Mascot ( GDs ), City East Transits, City East Highway Patrol – Mascot – Death
Service: From 14 November 1997 to 3 April 2002 = 4 years, 10 months, 15 days Service
Age: 26 years, 0 months, 24 days
Time in Retirement: 0
Awards: posthumously awarded the Commissioner’s Valour
Memorial 1: Sparks Reserve, Sparks St, Mascot, NSW
Memorial 2: Mascot Police Station, 965 Botany Rd, Mascot, NSW
Glenn Edward McENALLAY
Senior Constable Glenn McEnallay on right taken about 2 weeks before his death. Photo courtesy of Noel Kessel.
HWP vehicle 211 with the personalised memorial number plates for Glenn Edward McEnallay. GEM211
About 5.30pm on 27 March, 2002 the constable was driving an unmarked Highway Patrol vehicle when he began to follow a stolen vehicle. In Denison Street, Hillsdale the vehicle sped off and Constable McEnallay informed VKG of the pursuit. The stolen vehicle turned into Grace Campbell Crescent and stopped. As the police vehicle came to a halt near the stolen vehicle four offenders alighted from it and fired a number of shots at the constable from a distance of about three metres. Constable McEnallay was hit in the right side of the head and right shoulder. Other police arrived at the scene and two offenders were arrested. Constable McEnallay died of his wounds on 3 April, 2002. He was posthumously awarded the Commissioner’s Valour Award.
The constable was born in 1976 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 14 November, 1997. At the time of his death was attached to the City East Highway Patrol.
Today ( 3 April 2022 ) …friends, family, colleagues past and present, current and former Senior offices, The Mayor for Bayside Council as well as community members came together to remember Senior Constable Glenn McEnallay who was murdered in the line of duty 20 years ago.
I didn’t know this young man, but I walk past his memorial in Sparks Reserve each day and see his memorial at Mascot Police Station when I walk into work each morning
The story of Glenn is in the below link – RIP
Memorial dedication – Twenty Years on – 2022
Daily Telegraph Online wrote:
Parole hearing for cop killer Motekiai Taufahema
A MAN involved in the murder of Sydney policeman Glenn McEnallay was today refused parole.
Motekiai Taufahema, 35, is serving 11 years jail after being found guilty of Senior Constable McEnally’s manslaughter.
His bid for freedom was today rejected by the State Parole Authority.
He was one of four men convicted for the shooting murder of Constable McEnallay ten years ago.
The State Parole Authority said today they believed Taufahema has not addressed his offending behaviour and his release is not supported by the Serious Offenders Review Council (SORC).
His seven year non-parole period ended last month.
“The offender needs to be reduced in classification before progress and judgment … It is not appropriate for SPA to consider the offender for release on parole.”
Commissioner Ron Woodham opposed Taufahema’s release, saying it was not in the public interest and he had not addressed his offending behaviour.
Taufahema, found not guilty of the murder of Senior Constable McEnallay but guilty of manslaughter, was sentenced to 11 years prison.
Motekiai’s brother, John, also found not guilty of the murder of Senior Constable McEnallay but guilty of manslaughter, was last month refused parole and will not be eligible again until 2014. His full sentence is also 11 years with a non-parole period of seven years.
The Authority last month also refused parole for co-offender Meli Lagi at a private meeting. He will not be eligible for parole again until next year.
Lagi, 32, who was found not guilty of the murder of Senior Constable McEnallay but guilty of firearms offences, was sentenced to almost 13 years prison with a non-parole period of almost nine years, which expired on 2 April 2011.
The fourth co-offender, 32-year-old Sione Penisini, is serving a total sentence of 36 years and won’t be eligible for parole until 2029.
Court allows police killer to stay for daughter’s sake
ONE of the men jailed for manslaughter over the death of Senior Constable Glenn McEnallay has escaped deportation to Tonga even though he has spent more than half of his 21 years in Australia in prison.
The best interests of Motekiai Taufahema’s seven-year-old daughter, born after he was jailed, tipped the balance in his favour when he appealed against the cancellation of his visa. But his childless brother, Sione, 31, also convicted of McEnallay‘s manslaughter, will be sent back to the country he left aged nine.
A victims’ group says the decisions perversely reward criminals who become parents, while refugee advocates say they show the unfairness of the Migration Act’s ”character test”.
Although Motekiai Taufahema, 33, had spent 12 of 21 years here behind bars, the deputy president of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Robin Handley, found his daughter ”loves her father and misses him” and would be devastated if he were deported.
Combined with evidence of his rehabilitation, including a non-violent response to being stabbed 10 times by a fellow prisoner, it earned him ”one last chance”.
Mr Handley rejected Sione Taufahema’s appeal on the same day, saying the high risk of him re-offending outweighed other factors. Noting that he has spent almost 10 of his 21 years here in prison, Mr Handley accepted the Federal Government’s argument that the community would expect to be protected against his violent criminal behaviour.
Asked about Sione Taufahema’s imminent arrival, a Tongan Government spokesman said in an email, ”No comment.”
The Taufahema brothers were both on parole for a brutal bashing when stopped with four stolen guns in Hillsdale in 2002. Their accomplice, Sione Penisini, shot McEnallay four times.
Both brothers were sentenced to 11 years jail after pleading guilty to manslaughter – a result McEnallay‘s father, Bob, called a ”bloody disgrace”.
Sione Taufahema‘s deportation adds to a turbulent few years for the Taufahema family. Two of his siblings, Honora and Filisione, are also in jail. Another, 18-year-old Tavita, was shot dead by police in September during an armed hold-up at the Canley Heights Hotel. Last year 16-year-old Chris Emmerson was shot dead by a visitor at the family’s Yennora home.
The father, Maunaloa Taufahema, said he was happy for Motekiai’s daughter but disappointed for Sione, whom he considered Australian, not Tongan.
”He has spent a lot of his life in Australia, and to me his behaviour was based on the Australian environment,” he said.
Both brothers have spent only a week or two in Tonga since they left as children and their close families have since moved to Australia and New Zealand.
Robyn Cotterell-Jones, from the Victims of Crime Assistance League, said both brothers should be deported as a deterrent. ”I imagine victims would feel it’s wrong that if you’re arrested for murder but you get somebody pregnant you will be able to stay here rather than be deported.”
Dr Michael Grewcock, an expert on the character test from the University of NSW, said it seemed bizarre to deport one brother and not another: ”There’s just a general lack of consistency, which is built into the process.”
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.
Lest we forget … Police Remembrance Day. Photo: Robert Pearce
