Brett Forte inquest live updates: ‘It was like something out of the streets of Beirut’

Day four is done and it was dominated by Senior Constable Brett Forte’s police partner, who gave an emotional and frightening account of the aftermath of her colleague’s death.

Senior Constable Catherine Nielsen accused her Toowoomba colleagues of lying about how much they knew about gunman Ricky Maddison before he killed Senior Constable Forte.

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

She also said she was threatened and her life made “a living hell” by her co-workers after her on-duty partner’s death.

“The environment I worked in, to me, was extremely toxic [after Senior Constable Forte’s death],” she told the coronial inquest today.

“There was a snow job being done on me, I was trying to play the game, I was … asking these questions I was allowed to ask. You try being a senior constable female in that environment.

“My life was made a living hell for asking questions.

“I was hearing different stories and different versions. I was told: ‘Nobody knew about the automatic gunfire and it was all just a coincidence’.

“But it came to a point where it became painfully obvious that was not the case.”

An experienced police officer, in charge of the heavily-armed officers who exchanged gunfire with cop-killer Ricky Maddison during the 20-hour siege, believes there has not been “a situation like this in Australia” when speaking about the threat Maddison posed.

A commander of the Toowoomba-based SERT unit - Special Emergency Response Team - involved in the Maddison siege in 2017 is now testifying. He cannot be identified for legal and operational reasons.

FILE IMAGE: An SKS assault rifle - similar to the type of weapon Ricky Maddison was armed with.Credit: Joseph Sapienza

In summarising the Maddison standoff, the SERT commander says:

“[He was] a highly-motivated offender with ammunition that is nearly-armour piercing and fully automatic. I don’t think there has been a situation like this in Australia.”

The witness says Maddison threatened to open fire and “cut [people] in half” when he thought heavily-armed police were moving close to his shed stronghold during the siege.

Checks were done each time and no police officers on Maddison’s property were moving.

“He said something like: ‘I can see someone in the field, I’m going to cut them in half’,” he says.

“Maddison also made threats he had laid IEDs [improvised explosive devices] and booby traps in the bushland [around his stronghold].”

The officer says Maddison’s weapon, an SKS rifle, and his ammunition were not normal.

“Apart from being semi-auto or fully-auto, they fire Chinese-made rounds have a solid steel core and that is an extremely difficult round to stop,” he says.

“With the threat Maddison posed, armoured vehicles were the only way we were going to contain him.”

Senior Constable Catherine Nielsen finishes her testimony with a string of powerful messages for some of her Toowoomba police colleagues and the Queensland Police Service.

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

“The environment I worked in, to me, was extremely toxic [after Senior Constable Forte’s death].

“There was a snow job being done on me, I was trying to play the game, I was … asking these questions I was allowed to ask. You try being a senior constable female in that environment.

“My life was made a living hell for asking questions. I was shit-canned, I was threatened with 466s. I had done nothing wrong.

(For context, a “466” is a form police officers fill in if they want to make a misconduct complaint against another officer. It is sent to the Crime and Corruption Commission and the police service’s internal Ethical Standards Command.)

“So not only was I dealing with the death of my mate, I was dealing with shit from other officers.

“I’m a dedicated police officer. I’m proud of what I do.

“I’m proud of my brothers and sisters in blue.

“But we have to change cultures, we have to do better, this can not happen again.”

Senior Constable Catherine Nielsen, who was with slain officer Brett Forte when he was shot, believed she had been “messed with” in the aftermath of the shooting.

In the weeks after her close friend and colleague was killed, Senior Constable Nielsen said she was told different versions of what information senior officers had about cop-killer Ricky Maddison’s history.

Rick Maddison was shot dead by police after a 20-hour siege. Credit: Facebook

“I was hearing different stories and different versions. I was told: ‘Nobody knew about the automatic gunfire and it was all just a coincidence’,” she told the coronial inquest.

“I started taking notes of conversations … on July 20 I spoke to Senior Sergeant Scott Stahlhut and said to him: ‘Please tell me what you know, help me out here.’

“He said: ‘Cat, we didn’t know anything.’

“But it came to a point where it became painfully obvious that was not the case.”

Senior Constable Nielsen says she had a conversation with her colleague Senior Constable Andre Thaler on October 31.

He told her Senior Sergeant Stahlhut knew about the reports of automatic gunfire from the Wallers Road area in the days and weeks before the fatal shooting.

“My time in there from August onwards was terrible, I don’t know how I didn’t unravel,” she said.

“It got so bad that I knew I had to leave. That office was my connection to Bretty, to my work friends who loved me and had my back … but it was toxic.

“I knew I had been messed with … I was scared because this man [Scott] was supposed to be my friend and have my back. I couldn’t understand why this snow job was being done on me.”

Senior Constable Catherine Nielsen, who was with slain officer Brett Forte when he was shot, says if they knew about gunman Ricky Maddison’s weapons history and recent gunfire close to their ambush site, it “would have changed our decision-making” during the chase.

She and Senior Constable Forte knew Maddison was potentially armed and a dangerous offender.

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

However, they did not know about a police intelligence report linking him to automatic weapons 10 years earlier, the recent reports from residents concerning automatic gunfire near Wallers Road where they were ambushed, or Maddison’s links to an outlaw motorcycle gang.

“Of course, it would have changed our decision-making [during the pursuit] … we’re not stupid,” Senior Constable Nielsen tells the inquest.

Senior Constable Nielsen is asked whether ballistic vests, reinforced windscreens in police vehicles and improved first aids kits would have made a difference.

“Ballistic vests may help, but I know that they would not have helped [Brett, given where he was shot on his body],” she says.

“But when there’s people with weapons, it’s every day, all around Toowoomba and Queensland. We are faced with this more and more.”

Senior Constable Nielsen says reinforced windscreens would “have given us a bit more time” to get away from Maddison’s barrage of gunfire. Six of his bullets penetrated the police vehicle’s cabin.

Improved first aid kits were rolled out by the Queensland Police Service for their police vehicles shortly after Senior Constable Forte’s death.

Under a hail of automatic gunfire in a “steep and narrow” stretch of Wallers Road, Senior Constable Catherine Nielsen and Senior Constable Brett Forte’s 4WD was hit by 27 bullets.

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

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

“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.”

Senior Constable Nielsen said she helped smashed the windscreen to get Senior Constable Forte out, put him in the recovery position and kept talking to him as first aid and CPR was performed.

“I knew his best form of first aid was getting out of there …,” she said.

“We put him in the back of the [other police] car, and we were still under fire … his [Maddison’s] gunfire was relentless.″⁣

Senior Constable Catherine Nielsen, a colleague of slain officer Brett Forte who rode together during their shifts, recounts the moment Ricky Maddison unleashed a hail of gunfire on their vehicle.

She and Senior Constable Forte had chased Maddison’s Nissan Navara ute for some time when he suddenly veered off the Warrego Highway and onto Wallers Road, a rough dirt road.

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

She and Senior Constable Forte said to each other they thought Maddison was leading them somewhere, she said.

“Yes he was dangerous, yes he was an armed offender, but they are not uncommon in Toowoomba,” she tells the inquest.

“I knew from the phone call [Maddison’s] level of anger, I was thinking Taser … He wasn’t just going to let me put the cuffs on him and walk him to the car.”

Senior Constable Nielsen said when the dust from the dirt road cleared, they saw Maddison out of his car about 20 metres ahead of her and Senior Constable Forte.

He turned around to face them.

“Wallers Road suddenly became very steep and narrow, like a shooting gallery, and that’s what it was that day ... He just got out, swung around and started [firing],” she said.

“Because it was narrow and very steep, he was on top … he was shooting down at us essentially.”

Senior Constable Catherine Nielsen, a former colleague of slain officer Brett Forte, holds back tears as she begins her testimony at the coronial inquest.

The pair often rode around together during their shifts and had worked together in the Toowoomba Tactical Crime Squad for “a number of years”.

Senior Constable Brett Forte was shot dead on May 29, 2017.Credit: Queensland Police Service

“He was very good friend of mine … I did a number of jobs with Brett over the years, a lot of drug work [and] violent offenders. We had a very good working relationship,” she says.

Senior Constable Nielsen says she spoke to Senior Constable Forte’s killer, Ricky Maddison, when Maddison called Toowoomba police station five days before the officer’s death.

“He was rambling and volatile … I was trying to settle him down and talk about it … but he was very angry,” she says.

“He was swearing a lot, saying he had no phone, no money, no car, police had taken everything away from him … [including] his family and friends.”

Senior Constable Nielsen says, in the lead-up to the pursuit, she and Senior Constable Forte knew Maddison was classified as dangerous and may have a firearm.

“I had nothing directly to do with Ricky Maddison, but I knew about the 2015 [domestic violence] charges,” she says.

“I know there were some concerns of [police] inaction around Ricky Maddison.

“We didn’t really know what was going on, we just did what we were told, so to speak.”

One of the two main features of last week’s testimonies was an insight into the mindset and downward spiral of cop-killer Ricky Maddison.

He was depressed, alone, broke, prone to wild mood swings and consumed by a loathing of authorities and his former partner in his final hours.

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

The day he killed Senior Constable Forte, Maddison called Toowoomba police station and ranted about the manhunt for him and the allegations made by his former partner.

“I haven’t seen my family, I have lost everything … You have financially ruined me,” Maddison said.

Inspector Sharee Cumming was one of the on-scene commanders and remained at the scene during negotiations. She recounted Maddison’s mood swings during the siege.

“One moment he [Maddison] would be really, really angry, then next moment he would be sitting there conversing quite calmly,” she said.

Maddison’s friend, Adam Byatt, admitted he bought the gunman a mobile phone and registered it in his own name, but denied he was trying to cover up criminal activity or deceive police.

“He [Maddison] was a proud man and he was broke, so I provided him with a phone,” he said.

Detective Senior Sergeant Anthony Buxton, part of the police service’s Ethical Standards Command inquiry, told the coronial inquest last week that Maddison was “quite depressed about his life”.

Another recurring theme last week was the communication breakdown within the Queensland Police Service in the lead-up to Senior Constable Forte’s death.

Days before he was murdered, Senior Constable Forte told his wife he had been “told zip” about the search for Maddison, because he was “in the B-Team”.

Brett Forte with his wife, fellow cop Susan.

David Funch, representing Senior Constable Forte’s widow Susan, laid out reports of automatic gunfire made to police by residents near where Maddison had been hiding before the fatal confrontation.

One resident near Maddison’s property reported hearing automatic gunfire and when she rang to follow up she was told by a police officer: “It could not possibly be automatic gunfire.”

One even came from a resident who said the sound came from the vicinity of Wallers Road, where Senior Constable Forte was later killed and the location of Maddison’s hideout.

Detective Senior Sergeant Fiona Hinshelwood, who led the internal inquiry into the two men’s deaths, admitted police “put it down to regular gunfire in the Gatton area for hunting”.

Senior Constable Forte’s boss was aware of the automatic gunfire reports from the Wallers Road area, but the commander of the pursuit of Maddison on May 29, 2017, was not told.

Mr Funch also revealed police had information linking Maddison to a modified automatic SKS rifle. This was the same type of weapon, or perhaps the exact one, used to kill Senior Constable Forte.

However, that police intelligence report was mislabelled and filed under the name “Mattison”.