Hindley St siege gunman Damien Keith Hall had not slept for 10 days during ice bender before dramatic kidnap, chase and police stand-off

AN ICE-using father had not slept for 10 days before he kidnapped his family and led police on a chase into the centre of Adelaide, where he was shot as he held a toy gun to his child’s head, a court has heard.

DAMIEN Keith Hall had not slept for 10 days on an ice bender when he kidnapped his family and led police on a dramatic chase before putting the barrel of a gun to his child’s chin during the Hindley St siege, a court has heard.

The 26-year-old, who has pleaded guilty to several charges, is contesting prosecution claims that he shouted “I’ll kill her, I’ll kill her”, moments before he was shot by police during a chaotic siege at the intersection of Hindley and Victoria streets on November 28 last year.

Giving evidence on Friday, Hall told the District Court that he shouted “you’ll kill her, you’ll kill her” and would never have harmed his three-year-old daughter.

He said once STAR Group officers rammed his car and the chase ended, he pulled his daughter from the back seat onto his lap in the front driver’s seat because he feared he was going to die.

“My eldest daughter is my best friend, I just wanted to spend my last moments with her,” he told Judge Michael Boylan.

But prosecutor Lucy Boord said there were multiple witnesses who stated he held the firearm — which turned out to be a toy gun — to his daughter’s chin or face.

She accused Hall of using his child as a shield as STAR Group officers had their guns drawn on him.

Police closed off Hindley St following the siege which ended with Damien Keith Hall being shot by a STAR Group officer. Picture: Scott Oates

“You placed your daughter in extreme danger by pulling her into the front seat,” she said.

“You were prepared to put your daughter in that position so police wouldn’t shoot you. You were prepared to threaten her with that firearm so police wouldn’t shoot you.”

Hall said he had a “reasonably good recollection” of the night, which started when he kidnapped his partner and two children — aged eight months and 3 — from Cumberland Park about 9pm, despite his drug-fuelled state.

“I can’t remember sleeping for 10 days — I had been on a fairly big bender on ice,” he told the court.

He said he was paranoid and believed police were out to get him.

Yan Robson, for Hall, asked him if he thought police were to blame for how it all unfolded.

Hall responded: “In all honesty, we’re both as much to blame as each other.”

Damien Keith Hall is contesting claims he shouted he would kill his daughter during a siege in Hindley St.

But Ms Boord started her cross-examination of Hall by asking: “Which part of this are the police to blame?”

She said he pulled a gun on a civilian, he kidnapped his family, he didn’t stop during the chase, he pointed the gun at police and pub patrons and he dragged his daughter on to his lap during the siege.
“They rammed the vehicle, really, really, hard a couple of times — it made me scared to stop running,” Hall responded.

A STAR Group officer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court he was 1.5m from Hall when a colleague shot him in the arm.

He told the District Court that Hall also pointed his gun a STAR Group officer vehicle and at patrons sitting outside the Austral on Rundle St as he drove past during the chase.

“I remember a couple (of patrons) ducking for cover and expecting to be shot at — I just remember people moving out of the way,” he said.

“My concern went from the hostages in the vehicle to members of the public in the CBD.”

The senior officer said he was driving an unmarked police 4WD behind Hall for up to an hour and made several unsuccessful attempts to stop him around metropolitan Adelaide before the siege on Hindley St.

He said after Hall circled the northeast CBD several times, he noticed the gunman’s car started to slow so he “took the opportunity” to stop him by pushing him into a parked car at the Victoria St intersection.

“He placed the firearm under her chin and said he was going to kill her,’” he said.

Police officers near the car driven by Hall before he was shot in Hindley St. Picture: Scott Oates

Ms Boord asked the officer what his main concern was and he responded: “That he was going to kill the young girl. He said, ‘I’ll kill her, I’ll kill her.’”

But Ms Robson asked the officer whether Hall’s threats were “distorted” and what he actually said was “you’ll kill her, you’ll kill her’.

He replied no.

She asked the officer if he had been told about a conversation between a police negotiator and Hall’s partner, which included comments he would never harm his children.

The officer said that information was not conveyed to him during the chase or siege.

Hall has pleaded guilty to a string of charges, including false imprisonment and threatening to kill of endanger the life of a person.