Brett Forte inquest live updates: Negotiator says cop-killer’s mind was made up

Gatton officer-in-charge Senior Sergeant Rowland Brown has been questioned over why an entry was not created in the police system regarding his officer’s investigation into reports of automatic gunfire and why he did not tell his superiors about the ongoing inquiry.

“At the time, we had no known address and no known offender, all we had was a suburb,” he tells the coronial inquest.

“Automatic weapons are always going to be illegal, none of our shooters have licences for automatic weapons.”

Senior Sergeant Brown says he told the investigating officer, Acting Sergeant Brad Smart, to “conduct discreet inquiries and see if we can get a better location”.

The police service’s Ethical Standards Command concluded there was no misconduct, but their report ruled the automatic gunfire reports and investigation was “siloed” by Gatton police.

“There’s a whole new procedure for investigating shots fired jobs now. The on-road shift supervisor is notified and the crew should make inquiries as much as they can,” Senior Sergeant Brown says.

“When those inquiries are exhausted or the matter is resolved, an intelligence report is entered.”

“I should have put an intel report on [the police system], and I didn’t.”

Retired acting sergeant Brad Smart, who was investigating reports of automatic gunfire near where Senior Constable Brett Forte would be killed, regrets decisions he made in the course of his inquiry.

“It [the automatic gunfire reports] had gone on for that long, I thought, whoever it is has got hold of that weapon and they’re up there target shooting and firing at trees,” he says.

Former acting sergeant Smart says he retired from the police service in July last year and during his 32 years of experience, he had dealt with an automatic weapon report two or three times.

He did not create an intelligence report in the police system regarding his investigations and what residents were telling him.

Instead, he made markings and notes on a map of the Wallers Road properties he obtained from the local council.

He would go to Wallers Road on weekends and at nights and drive through, or stop and listen for any gunfire, to see if he could pinpoint the location or the shooter’s identity.

After being criticised in the police service’s Ethical Standards Command report into Senior Constable Forte’s death, retired acting sergeant Smart was disciplined.

He was told to study and read up on different parts of relevant legislation, but there was no follow-up inquiry to make sure he had done this.

In response to Senior Constable Forte’s death, Southern Region police must now enter reports regarding gunfire into the police service’s central QPRIME system.

Retired acting sergeant Brad Smart, who was actively investigating reports of automatic gunfire near the site where Senior Constable Brett Forte would be gunned down, said there was no link between property owner Adam Byatt and Ricky Maddison in the police system, despite the pair being friends.

“I went to an address of a lady [on Wallers Road] I had spoken to before. I got permission from her to put a camera on her property … up in a tree. It was to monitor comings and goings from that property [Maddison’s property],” retired acting sergeant Smart says.

The Gatton officer went to swap the SD cards in the camera at one point, but he saw a man and a parked ute near the camera’s position and decided to come back at another time.

Before retired acting sergeant Smart got the chance to come back, Senior Constable Brett Forte was gunned down by Maddison on Wallers Road.

He had not created a report in the police system logging his investigations, but he did alert Toowoomba police at one stage before Senior Constable Forte was killed.

“I did not think there was going to be anything suspicious or untoward in relation to it. I thought I was just looking at someone with an illegal firearm,” retired acting sergeant Smart says.

“When I spoke to residents, these gunshots had been heard for two months before.

“Automatic gunfire was very out of the ordinary, normal gunfire was ordinary in the Gatton area.”

Retired acting sergeant Smart said changes were made after Senior Constable Forte’s death.

Now, in event of gunfire, police have to go out and knock on doors, intelligence reports have to be submitted and the gunshots logged in the system. The protocols are now “thorough”.

A neighbour of the property where Ricky Maddison was hiding had told an investigating officer that the automatic gunfire was coming from the property next door.

Retired acting sergeant Brad Smart, who was investigating reports of automatic gunfire near the site where Senior Constable Brett Forte would be gunned down, continues his testimony.

“I didn’t know it [the automatic gunfire] was coming from that area until I spoke to a resident further west of Wallers Road [where Maddison was hiding],” he says.

Retired acting sergeant Smart says he went to Wallers Road one day and saw the resident out with his cattle and decided to speak to him.

“He said: ‘Oh, are you here about the gunfire?’

“I said: ‘Yes.’

“He said: ‘Is it the automatic gunfire?’

“I said: ‘Yes.’

“He said: ‘Oh, it’s coming from next door.’ ”

Retired acting sergeant Smart says he went to the council and found out the property was owned by the Byatt family.

They had a son called Adam, who was Maddison’s friend, and retired acting sergeant Smart says he knew Adam Byatt through his previous dealings with police.

Retired acting sergeant Brad Smart, who was actively investigating reports of automatic gunfire near the site where Senior Constable Brett Forte would be gunned down, is recounting his inquiries.

He first heard of automatic gunfire in the Gatton area on April 17, 2017. He had not heard of previous reports of automatic gunfire from residents in the prior months.

A file image of an SKS assault rifle similar to the type of weapon Ricky Maddison was armed with.Credit: Joseph Sapienza

“I attended the informant’s address and spoke to her. She had recorded what sounded to me like automatic gunfire. She pointed me in the direction of a certain person who lived to the east of her [on Forestry Road, which intersects Wallers Road, where Maddison was hiding],” he says.

However, acting sergeant Smart says he ruled out the person the original informant on Forestry Road had implicated as potentially being responsible for the gunfire.

“It became apparent the gunshots were coming from further west. Other residents had heard the gunfire … I said it was probably someone fooling around with a semi-automatic firearm that they had modified,” he tells the inquest.

“People were saying that they thought the gunshots were coming from the west or the north - Wallers Road ran through that area.

“Every chance I got, I would go up. I spoke to just about every resident in Forestry and Wallers roads, I spoke to council workers and people working on the electricity lines.

“Most had heard the gunshots, but just hadn’t reported them. None of them could definitively say where the gunshots were coming from and they said it was reverberating through the bush.

“I thought it was just someone with an illegal weapon shooting targets in the bush … At that stage … there was nothing sinister on my radar.”

Police negotiator Senior Sergeant Sean McKay tells the inquest that during his discussions with cop-killer Ricky Maddison “it was obvious” the gunman’s mind “was made up”.

Maddison was shot dead by heavily-armed police after a 20-hour standoff, when he emerged from his stronghold with weapon in hand.

Senior Sergeant McKay says he and fellow negotiators were still trying to reach Maddison on the mobile phone the police robot had delivered to him, when he ran at police and was shot dead.

“I personally can’t think of any training that is going to affect a situation where it was obvious that this person’s mind was made up,” he says.

Senior Sergeant McKay asks State Coroner Terry Ryan to consider giving him and fellow police negotiators the same anonymity given to Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) officers.

“I would like it to be considered that the negotiators appearing in coronial inquests be afforded the same anonymity as the SERT operatives,” he says.

“My reasoning for that being the only thing that negotiators have is their credibility and if our name is put in the paper as a police negotiator, when we go to someone who may have read the paper, they might not want to talk to the person who just lost someone the day before.”

The commander of the police Special Emergency Response Team says there were hopes among police officers at one stage of the siege that Ricky Maddison might come out from his stronghold and surrender.

“He was talking quite rationally and that was a huge step after the previous hours of talking to our negotiators,” the police officer, who can not be identified for legal reasons, tells the inquest.

Ricky Maddison was wanted for domestic violence offences when he killed Senior Constable Brett Forte.Credit: Seven News

But then, Maddison’s gunfire escalated the situation again. He discharged a fresh wave of automatic gunfire towards two police vehicles and the police robot.

Up to five bullets hit the armoured vehicle – with several police officers inside or nearby – and other rounds hit the second police vehicle and the police robot.

Maddison then emerged from the back of his stronghold with gun in hand and was shot dead by a SERT sharpshooter. He was declared dead at the scene.

“We made sure we had a welfare officer with all of the people involved,” the SERT commander says.

“All of their equipment was quarantined, they were removed from the vicinity of where Maddison was, given food and drinks, give time to collect their thoughts and make notes in their books.”

The SERT commander says testing of body-worn cameras for SERT officers has pros and cons. There are difficulties around much of SERT’s work being covert and they need to change clothes quickly.

The specialist police officer who fatally shot Ricky Maddison after a 20-hour standoff recounts the moment the gunman emerged from his shed with gun in hand.

The SERT (Special Emergency Response Team) operator, who can not be identified for legal reasons, was positioned at the back of Maddison’s stronghold and armed with a marksman rifle.

The police forward command post during the 20-hour siege involving gunman Ricky Maddison.Credit: Jorge Branco

He heard a burst of automatic gunfire Maddison unleashed towards a police armoured vehicle and the return fire other SERT officers gave, about 10 seconds apart.

“Then I saw Maddison with a rifle about 100 metres away … he was running and heading towards our position,” the SERT officer tells the inquest.

“I saw what happened the day before, I saw the place where Maddison was standing when he engaged the police vehicle, there was a lot of rounds on the ground.

“If there was to be a confrontation, I knew things would happen very quickly. Even having personal ballistic armour, it [Maddison’s ammunition and weapon] can be very damaging.

“I identified the rifle being held in both hands, right hand on the pistol grip - at any moment he could have engaged. He was running down the hill from left to right.

“I didn’t have any other option, other than using lethal force … to stop him from shooting at us and injuring or killing us or other guys at another containment position.”

Moments before Maddison was fatally shot in the chest, other police officers were yelling at him to stop, but he did not comply.

Senior Constable Catherine Nielsen also described yesterday when she and Senior Constable Brett Forte were ambushed by Ricky Maddison in a narrow part of Wallers Road “like a shooting gallery”.

Under a hail of automatic gunfire, Senior Constable Nielsen and Senior Constable Forte’s police 4WD was hit by 27 bullets.

Senior Constable Brett Forte in his police uniform, with a few humorous additions.

“I couldn’t understand, there was this automatic gunfire … it sounded like an air gun, but it was so rapid,” Senior Constable Nielsen called at the coronial inquest yesterday.

“As soon as he has started to fire, Brett yelled out ‘he’s out’. He got it into reverse, got his foot down, that act essentially saved my life.

“I got my gun out and started shooting through my windscreen. The car tipped onto Brett’s side.

“I got the glass out of the way in case I had to shoot again. I could still hear gunfire, but because we were in the forest it was very confusing [where it was coming from].

“I couldn’t lift Bretty, the car was a mess - it was like something out of the streets of Beirut.

“I realised there was a huge amount of blood and his arm was a mess. I wasn’t sure if he had been shot or banged his head on the car, he was making groaning noises.”

Catch up in full on yesterday’s evidence here.

Yesterday’s proceedings were focused on the testimony of Senior Constable Catherine Nielsen, who was Senior Constable Brett Forte’s on-duty partner and with him when they were ambushed.

After pulling her fatally wounded friend and colleague from their bullet-riddled police vehicle, Senior Constable Nielsen needed support from her Toowoomba colleagues.

Instead, some chose to make threats and lie to her over how much they knew about the gunman responsible, she told the coronial inquest.

Senior Constable Catherine Nielsen leaves Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Monday afternoon.Credit: Toby Crockford

Senior Constable Nielsen described the late Senior Constable Forte as “a very good friend” and they had worked together in Toowoomba’s Tactical Crime Squad for “a number of years”.

Her close colleague was gunned down by Ricky Maddison, who was on the run from police, on May 29, 2017, near Gatton in the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane.

Maddison ambushed Senior Constable Nielsen and Senior Constable Forte while they were chasing him, and unleashed a hail of automatic gunfire on their police four-wheel-drive.

Maddison retreated to his nearby hideout and, after a 20-hour standoff with heavily armed officers, he emerged firing and was shot dead the following day.

Read the full story here.