Dear Coroner
Barnes
We are now at a point where all the evidence has been heard and we have
read all the investigative material and viewed all exhibits. We as a family believe that the internal investigation
was not properly or efficiently run, evidence was tainted, witness testimonies
changed from one day to the next, police collusion is apparent, the fact that
Jason was shot in the back area of his body twice has not been properly and
adequately explained including Dr Ben Ong stating that he amended his autopsy
report because Ethical Standards asked him to, no justifiable evidence was
given to prove beyond any doubt that Jason was armed with a replica or
otherwise at the time he was shot. From the
moment Jason was shot there was a deliberate attempt by Ian Leavers President
of Qld Police Union to taint the evidence with viscous and damning lies, then
came Insp Mark Reid who was with the Ethical Standards Branch, In my opinion
his investigation was not only inadequate but bias to the extreme where no real
investigative time was spent on the version that the shooting Officer Thomas
Hess or in fact his partner on the day Troy Weston gave in evidence. It has been proven in my opinion that there
was a total lack of honesty in trying to obtain a statement from the only eye
witness who had clearly stated from Day 1 that Jason was unarmed. This was once again very evident in the
meeting that took place between the so called Ethical Standards branch Insp
Mark Reid, Howard Kajewski, Anthony Buxton, myself and my son Stuart at Police
Headquarters on Friday 18th May 2012 at 2:14pm (Exhibit E 27.1), it
was made clear to us that the Police investigation was almost completed and
they had already made their minds up without as much as giving Krystal Sinn the
opportunity to do a walk through re-enactment at 21 Ivor Street Bracken
Ridge. We had co-operated with the
police over and above in order to find the truth. Two weeks later on 29th May 2012,
due to this family’s insistence for the Police to have this done, we arranged
for these same officers to meet with Krystal Sinn at the address so that she
could give a video re-enactment of her version of the events on the day. Unlike Officers Hess and Weston she was not
privy to props placed around the scene where evidence was located. I do not believe the Police investigated her
side of the story, I believe they dismissed her as a liar and did not even
investigate her version. On that day
Krystal Sinn made a complaint to Insp Mark Reid about who gave her mug shot and
criminal history to the media, this also went on uninvestigated. The Police had already informed me that they
believed Krystal Sinn was nothing more than a bare faced liar and one can only
imagine this is why they did not feel the necessity to investigate her
statement.
In summary, I believe the Coronial Inquest was a gathering of the
facts, well there are 2 undisputable facts:
1)
My son Jason was
shot dead by Thomas Hess a serving member of the Qld Police Service.
2) Jason died from 2 gunshot wounds to the rear of his
body. (I quote where the gunshot wounds are directly as per the autopsy report:
1) An
ovoid entry gunshot wound with abrasion margin on the outer back of the left upper arm near the shoulder region, 25.5 em
left of midline and 140 em above the heel.
2) A
circular entry gunshot wound with an abrasion margin on the right lower back, 8.5 em right of
midline and 108.5 em above the heel.
SUMMARY &
INTERPRETATION:
2, Two gunshot wounds were present on
the body:-
a. The first gunshot wound entered
from slightly to the back of the upper
arm region and above the axillary fold (armpit) travelling sideways from
the left to right to end within the axillary (armpit) region of the right upper
limb. It had lacerated the aorta and upper lobes of both lungs, it also had
fractured the left filth rib and anterior bodies of T5 and T6 thoracic
vertebra. The projectile was present in the right axilla/outer aspect of right chest.
b. The second gunshot wound entered
the body from the right lower back of
the torso with its trajectory being upwards to the left and forward lacerating
the right kidney, inferior vena cava and liver. The projectile was present in
the abdominal cavity. When compared to the CT
Scan images, the projectile was
originally in the anterior abdominal wall and had apparently 'dropped' into the
abdominal cavity, most probably due to movement of the body during examination.
In a lot of ways I liken this case to the Cameron Doomadgee case where
Mr Doomadgee was killed by another serving member of the Qld Police Force in 2004. I say this as when I look around the court
room I see the same familiar faces which includes yourself (Who stood down from
the case), Mr Zillman, Mr Devlan and Ian Leavers. I implore Your Honour to hand this case over
to the office of DPP as I do not believe the Police are above the law and if
this was a non-police shooting, it would already have gone to the DPP. If you do not do this then I ask you what has
changed since the death of Cameron Doomadgee?
Where is the openness, transparency and honesty that was promised to this
family? A human life was taken and with
all respect it should not be left up to one man in this case yourself, to make
a decision as to whether my son did indeed do what Thomas Hess is claiming he
did. The only real evidence that points
to any wrong doing is that my son was shot in the rear of his body and this has
not been adequately explained.
Yours Sincerely
Steve Protheroe
