Inquest investigates death of William George Grimes

A barrister said the police officer who tasered a man doused in petrol was “damned if he did, damned if he didn’t”, while his family has revealed the pain from their loss. * Distressing content

An inquest is being held into the death of Maryborough's William George Grimes.

“He was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t.”

Those were the words of barrister Troy Schmidt, who appeared at an inquest investigating the death of William George Grimes, who was severely burned during an incident involving police on March 3, 2020, and later died in hospital.

He was referring to the actions of a police officer, who deployed his taser in an effort to prevent Mr Grimes from self-harming.

The inquest has heard Mr Grimes ran from the police into Granville State School while holding a jerry can and a lighter and threatening to self-harm.

Police were responding to a triple-0 call made by Mr Grimes’ brother, David, after he left a suicide note and took the jerry can of fuel from the family’s Granville home.

Four officers who were at the scene that night, including Constable Lars Gartrell, who tasered Mr Grimes in an effort to prevent him from self-harming, have appeared at the inquest.

The decision to taser Mr Grimes has come under scrutiny this week.

The inquest was told it was unknown if the flames that engulfed the father of two had been caused by the taser or the lighter.

Constable Gartrell told the inquest on Tuesday he tasered Mr Grimes, who he believed had a “fully formed intention of setting himself on fire”.

He said he used his taser in an effort to try and save his life.

Constable Gartrell said his options were to do nothing or try to intervene.

“Do I let him light himself up or do I try to save his life?” Constable Gartrell said during his testimony.

The inquest heard Gartrell ruled out using capsicum spray because of the distance and the risk that it would not prevent Mr Grimes from igniting himself.

Mr Grimes had spread fuel in front of himself, which Const Gartrell said limited his “close range options”.

In his closing statement on Thursday, Mr Schmidt told the court it was an “extraordinary situation” and Constable Gartrell “really had no choice” but to deploy the taser to attempt to save Mr Grimes’ life.

Representing Mr Grimes’ family, barrister Mitch Rawlings said they felt the probable cause of ignition was the taser rather than the lighter.

He said the family asked that Coroner Terry Ryan consider recommending officers in a similar circumstance take no action in regards to the use of the taser, if it created a risk of doing more harm.

Senior counsel assisting the state coroner Rhiannon Helsen said in her closing statement Mr Grimes suffered long-term mental illnesses and had previously attempted suicide.

She said it remained undetermined whether it was the taser or lighter that had caused the fire.

Ms Helsen said Mr Gartrell’s evidence in court was “forthcoming and reliable”.

“Essentially the decision was to intervene to try to control Mr Grimes or to stand by and do nothing, hoping he didn’t complete the act,” she said.

Ms Helsen described the circumstances as “extremely challenging” for all the officers involved.

Mr Grimes’ former partner said in her statement that she had concerns for her children and their pain in the wake of Mr Grimes’ death.

His parents also shared their heartbreak, telling the inquest their son had found life “hard to cope with” due to his mental illness, but also spoke of his “heart of gold”.

His brother David Grimes spoke eloquently of the loss of his older brother, his protector and mate.

He remembered the mischief they got up to as children and said they kept their bond to the end.

“It’s hard to face the fact that I’ll never see him again,” the statement read.

Mr Grimes had been a devoted father and uncle, David said.

“He was fearless to stand up for his mates and his kids,” it read.

“He loved the kids. He was an uncle to 13 and father to two and he would do anything for anyone.”

David said Mr Grimes had been close to his nephew, Tanner.

Now, when driving past the cemetery, his son would sometimes point and say “Uncle George is crying”.

“As a father and a brother those words haunt me,” the statement read.

He said in his final days, his brother had felt he was a burden to those around him.

“He died a man tortured by the feeling he had failed his family,” David said.

“He could not have been more wrong.

“We all love him and will never forget him.”

The inquest has now finished, and Coroner Terry Ryan will now consider his findings, which will be released at a later time.

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