JC inquest: Expert says it’s reasonable for public to expect police to gain control without using lethal force

An expert has told an inquest into the death of Yamatji woman JC that it was “reasonable” for the public to expect police to have gained control of the situation without using lethal force. Chris Markham — who carries out reviews of all use of force incidents involving WA Police — was responding to a series of questions from the lawyer representing JC’s sister regarding the actions of the eight police officers on that fateful day, and in particular, the officer who fatally shot the mother-of-one. JC, a mother-of-one with a history of mental health issues and drug abuse, was fired upon by then-First Class Constable Brent Wyndham after she refused to put down a serrated bread knife and a pair of pink scissors she was carrying while roaming the streets of Geraldton in September 2019. Following the incident, the officer was charged with her murder but was acquitted of the offence after a trial in October 2021. An inquest is being held to examine the officers’ actions and whether they could have de-escalated the situation. When asked by Kathleen Heath, who represents JC’s sister Bernadette Clarke, the fact JC died was an indication that police policy, training and guidelines had not been followed. Mr Markham said that given the circumstances, such as the number of officers and the equipment they had, they “may have been able to resolve it without the use of lethal force”. In his evidence, Mr Markham also told the coronial inquiry the actions Const. Wyndham — from his decision to immediately get out of his vehicle when he arrived to pulling his gun — “exacerbated” the situation. The inquiry was told Mr Markham wrote in a report after the incident that by jumping out of his car once he arrived at the scene and pulling his gun, Const. Wyndham not only potentially heightened his own “body alarm” response but may have also agitated the 29-year-old woman. The inquest has been told Const. Wyndham exited his police vehicle with urgency, pulled his weapon and discharged it within 16 seconds. Mr Markham agreed with Ms Heath that when Const. Wyndham moved towards JC, he did not stop to think or observe the entire situation and that by closing in on her, he “escalated the threat”. Last week, the inquest was told a police internal affairs investigation found Const. Wyndham failed to follow the WA Police use of force policy four times when he shot JC. Mr Markham told the inquest that as part of his review into the entire incident, it emerged Const. Wyndham never had use-of-force scenario training, which all officers undergo. The inquest was told this training was unavailable to the Mid West Gascoyne region because of a “lack of resources” at the time. When asked by Ms Heath if there was anything he would like to say to JC’s family, Mr Markham said WA Police do their best to train officers to give them the correct skills to manage situations and that what happened on that day was extremely unfortunate. He said he was sorry there wasn’t a different outcome on that day, adding no officer wants to draw or discharge their firearm and that fatal shootings were “rare”. The inquest continues.