JC inquest Day 4: Const. Brent Wyndham, police officer who fatally shot Yamatji woman JC gives evidence

The policeman who fatally shot Yamatji woman JC has told an inquest he was promoted to a senior constable following his 2021 murder trial, after he was stood down from work for about two years. Brent Wyndham, who was a constable at the time of the 2019 shooting, began giving evidence at the coronial inquest into JC’s death in Geraldton on Thursday. He became the first police officer in a century to be charged with murder, but was acquitted of that charge and manslaughter at a Supreme Court trial in 2021. State Coroner Ros Fogliani is examining the circumstances surrounding JC’s death, police actions and policies and health care given to the 29-year-old in the lead-up to the shooting. Eight officers rushed to the scene in Petchell St, Karloo on September 17, 2019 after reports of an armed woman walking the streets were made. JC, who suffered mental health problems, was holding a 30cm knife and pair of scissors. Police were at the scene for 44 seconds and Sen. Const. Wyndham for 16 seconds before he pulled the trigger after repeated demands were made for JC to drop the weapons. In his evidence, Sen. Const. Wyndham said he exited the car and moved towards JC. JC turned towards him and took two steps back, Sen. Const. Wyndham said, and he yelled four commands: “put the knife down”, “get on the ground”, “you’re under arrest, get on the ground” and “put the f..... knife down”, before firing the shot. He said he was scared when JC took the backwards steps and did not respond to commands. “I felt scared because she was not listening to what I was saying and I’ve got a gun pointed at her,” he said. “I thought I was going to get stabbed.” Const. Wyndham said he did not consider the possibility JC may have been retreating and his colleague, Sen. Const. Adrian Barker who was closest to JC, was always in his field of vision. “Whether she was retreating from me, or stepping back, I don’t know,” he said. “It’s quite different to think about this stuff when this stuff is happening.” Sen. Const Wyndham said it did not cross his mind to draw his taser or baton. He was in a jogging state when he pulled his firearm out, saying he did so “because JC was armed with a knife and scissors and had been ignoring commands to put them down and she was in close proximity to Sen. Const. Barker.” Sen. Const Wyndham told the inquest he became a first class constable in 2017, five years after completing his probation. He worked in Broome for a year before returning to Geraldton in 2017. The officer told the court he was stood aside following the shooting, and was formally stood down when he was arrested and charged with murder later that year. He said he became a senior constable when he returned from being suspended in 2021, after he was acquitted at trial. Sen. Const. Wyndham told the court use of force training taught him there were a number of factors to consider before deploying force, including if the person is armed, their level of aggression, proximity to people, as well as whether the person had mental health or substance abuse issues. But he said he could not recall if he considered JC’s mental health state before firing his gun. FORMER COP ‘RESENTFUL’ AND ‘JADED’ TOWARDS FORCE A police officer who was standing closest to Yamatji woman JC trying to calm her down when she was fatally shot by a colleague claims he was made to feel responsible for her death during an internal review. The evidence of former police officer Adrian Barker — who was standing closest to 29-year-old JC when his colleague, then Const. Brent Wyndham, fired a shot — resumed at the coronial inquest into the September 17, 2019 death on Thursday morning. He told the inquest that by the time he was interviewed by internal affairs officers in November 2021, he had become “jaded” and “resentful” towards this organisation for “the things they had done to me”. The court was also told Mr Barker was told during the internal investigation he breached policy, but he did not agree. “There is no such breach,” he said. Mr Barker expressed during the internal interview how he was made to feel he was responsible for the death of the woman, known as JC for cultural reasons, the inquest was told. “It was framed as a managerial interview but it was in fact my exit interview,” he said. “I was a bit more expressive than I otherwise would be. Resentful perhaps, with some of the things the organisation has done to me.” The inquest before State Coroner Ros Fogliani was told that Mr Barker resigned from the WA Police Force in November 2021 after 16 years. When asked why, Mr Barker said: “It was multifaceted . . . it was complicated.” He declined to elaborate. On Wednesday afternoon, the inquest was told Mr Barker’s managerial review interview over JC’s shooting also took place in November 2021. During that process he was asked by investigators to reflect on whether his actions or inactions contributed to the shooting. “OK, brutal honesty, I feel it did,” according to the transcript of Mr Barker’s internal interview. He told internal affairs investigators he felt he had to close in on JC to make meaningful communication and that he had planned to distract her. Mr Barker, now a long-haul truck driver, said if he could go back in time, he would have said to his colleagues surrounding JC to “hang on. Let’s just see where this goes”, especially if he had known that Const. Wyndham had drawn his firearm. Mr Barker, despite there being no communication or order for him to be the one to approach the 29-year-old, took steps towards her while she was holding a knife. “I thought I was doing the right thing,” Mr Barker said. “Each individual officer had done the right thing.” Const. Wyndham arrived at the scene and within 16 seconds had discharged his firearm at JC, shooting her in the abdomen. JC’s family members, through their lawyers, publicly thanked Mr Barker on Thursday morning. JC’s foster mother Anne Jones and sister Bernadette Clarke wanted to express their gratitude to Mr Barker for his attempts to talk and calm JC down. “It’s nice. Thanks to them for not holding anything against me I suppose,” Mr Barker said after hearing the thanks. Ms Clarke has not been able to attend the inquest, but also expressed her thanks to Mr Barker for trying to talk to JC and approaching her with calmness. Asked if he needed a moment, Mr Barker seemed touched but continued. During their evidence, some of Mr Barker’s former police colleagues, who were also present at the time, have told the inquest the fact Mr Barker was standing so close to JC didn’t help the situation. Mr Barker told the inquest JC, who he knew had mental health problems, was walking away from him at the time, and he felt he needed to get closer so she could hear him without him yelling at her. Mr Barker, a senior constable at the time, on Wednesday said he would not have used force or even drawn a weapon because it would have been a “barrier to communication” and JC was not making “overt acts”. Const. Wyndham is due to start his evidence at the inquest on Thursday. The inquest has been told that an internal affairs investigation concluded that Const. Wyndham breached police policy when he shot JC. Const. Wyndham still works as a police officer in Geraldton. The inquest — which is examining police actions, policy, training and tactics as well as the mental health care given to JC — continues.