Inquest into police resources to intercept Harrison Kitt before fatal crash that killed Joanne Shanahan and Tania McNeill

An inquest has heard the driver who killed a mother and a decorated police officer was reported by multiple witnesses for dangerous driving up to an hour before the horror smash.

An inquest is investigating whether SA police had more resources to potentially intercept a mentally ill driver before he caused a fatal crash.

Opening the inquest on Tuesday, counsel assisting Martin Kirby said killer driver Harrison Kitt was reported by multiple witnesses driving dangerously before he killed senior police officer Joanne Shanahan and mother Tania McNeill.

Mr Kitt was travelling at 167km/h and on the incorrect side of the road when he entered the intersection of Fullarton and Cross roads, Urrbrae, against a red traffic light at 1.40pm on April 25, 2020.

His Volkswagen collided firstly with Mrs McNeill’s BMW sedan which was travelling north on Fullarton Road and then with an eastbound Holden SUV, in which Mrs Shanahan was a front passenger.
Both Mrs Shanahan and Mrs McNeill died at the scene.

Detective Chief Superintendent Joanne Shanahan. Picture: SA Police

Tania McNeill. Picture: Supplied.

Mr Kirby said Mr Kitt was reported to SA police by a number of witnesses to be driving dangerously and at high speeds but they could not provide the registration plate.

The inquest heard Mr Kitt, while affected by undiagnosed bipolar disorder, was also clocked by a speed camera at 12.41pm travelling north on Victor Harbor Road, Tatachilla, at a speed of 187km/h.

“Because of the technology used and the manner in which those fixed cameras operate, this information was not passed on to SA Police or any other authority,” Mr Kirby said.

“The unfortunate flow on from this limitation was that when later reports came of a speeding driver travelling dangerously on the Southern Expressway, the vehicle couldn’t be identified.”

Mr Kitt was found not guilty of causing the women’s deaths by reason of mental incompetence and was placed on a 10-year supervision order and released on licence in 2022.

Harrison Kitt was ordered to serve a 10-year limiting term. Photo: NCA NewsWire/David Mariuz

Mr Kirby said the inquest would not be exploring Mr Kitt’s mental health at the time of the crash as it was his first episode of psychosis and could not be predicted.

Instead the inquest would focus on what resources were available to police in the hour before the fatal collision to identify and intercept Mr Kitt.

“And if not, what, if anything might help prevent a similar event happening in the future,” Mr Kirby said.

Mr Kirby said had the registration plate be known, it’s possible SA police might have had more options in their response.

This included attending Mr Kitt’s Urrbrae home, where he remained for nearly 40 minutes before driving away and causing the fatal crash.

However, Mr Kirby said at the time police “did the best with what they could, with what they had”.

Manager of Traffic Management Centre (TMC) Michael Southern told the inquest they have two live feeds with SA police where they can share vision from road cameras.

Manager of Traffic Management Centre Michael Southern gave evidence at the inquest on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire/Kelly Barnes

Peter Shanahan, husband of Joanne who was killed in the crash told media outside court he was “very grateful” for the inquest. Picture: NewsWire/Kelly Barnes

When asked of a hypothetical situation of TMC receiving a report of a speeding and erratic driver on the Southern Expressway, Mr Southern said they would respond to the call over the Government Radio Network (GRN) within “a matter of seconds”.

“Once we’ve got eyes on it (the car) we will push that vision to SA police … and we’ll start broadcasting all the locations (of the driver),” he said.

Mr Southern said TMC is able to preposition and control road cameras so they have immediate vision of the car approaching, which they can broadcast live to SAPOL.

However, Mr Southern said TMC didn’t have a strong working relationship with SAPOL in 2020 and so didn’t receive a call from them until after the crash occurred.

“Police communications has realised what resource we are to them and have taken advantage of that,” he said.

The inquest heard TMC now receive more than a dozen calls a day over GRN but only received about one a day in 2020.

Mr Southern also said the camera coverage was very limited between Encounter Bay and Victor Harbor Road in 2020 but today there are additional cameras.

Outside the inquest, Mrs Shanahan’s husband, Peter told media he was “very grateful” for the inquest looking to improve road safety.

“If we can save one more life … this is all worthwhile,” he said.

Mr Shanahan also urged anyone who sees someone suffering from mental health issues to do something about it.

“We need to help people as much as we can … and maybe prevent certain events happening like this again,” he said.

The inquest, before State Coroner David Whittle, continues.