Police officer used ‘excessive force’ before Wayne Thomas Kerle’s death in custody, inquest hears
A man with a respiratory condition that restricted airflow to his lungs told police he “couldn’t breathe” shortly before his death in custody at a Brisbane watch house, an inquest has heard.
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A 68-year-old with a respiratory condition was cleared by paramedics and dragged by a police officer, who didn’t listen when he said he “couldn’t breathe”, shortly before his death in custody, an inquest into his death has heard.
A coroner’s inquest into the death of Wayne Thomas Kerle is investigating his treatment by police and ambulance officers in the lead up to his death on December 27, 2022.
Mr Kerle, who suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, was taken into custody on that date after police attended a Fortitude Valley unit complex.
Mr Kerle was charged with possessing dangerous drugs after cannabis was found at the scene.
He was handcuffed and put into the back of a police van for transport, but on arrival at Brisbane City Watch house, he was found unresponsive.
Police and paramedics tried to resuscitate him for 24 minutes before he was declared dead.
The cause of his death was unable to be ascertained.
On August 19, ethical standards investigator Detective Sergeant Teresa Downing told the inquest that she had raised allegations against four police officers following Mr Kerle’s death.
The allegations included a failure to provide access to medical treatment and, for one officer, unprofessional conduct due to certain comments captured on body-worn camera footage.
A different officer, Senior Constable James Faulkner, had been accused of using excessive force by dragging Mr Kerle across the ground.
Now Acting Sergeant of Fortitude Valley police station, Faulkner told the inquest he had believed Mr Kerle was attempting to obstruct arrest by intentionally dropping to the ground.
Acting Sergeant Faulkner accepted that dragging was not a taught technique, but said officers were expected to adapt in such situations.
He said he had been attempting to adapt the taught hammer lock manipulation technique which he had found to be effective at motivating Mr Kerle to keep moving earlier in their interaction.
The court heard this interaction had followed paramedics’ attendance at the scene.
Acting Sergeant Faulkner said he had called paramedics when Mr Kerle reported trouble breathing, and told him he had COPD
Paramedics had then cleared Mr Kerle and instructed that he wouldn’t need transport to hospital, the court heard.
Acting Sergeant Faulkner said he was “pretty surprised” by this as, in his experience, ambulance teams erred on the side of caution with such decisions.
He said their decision to clear Mr Kerle “pretty much negated” his concerns and assured him that Mr Kerle was “robust”.
He told the court that Mr Kerle had said “lots of different things” throughout their interactions that night which “didn’t make a lot of sense” – including saying he was “allergic to police”.
By the time Mr Kerle was genuinely asking for help, saying he couldn’t breathe and “you going to kill me?”, Acting Sergeant Faulkner said he did not take him seriously.
The court heard a review had found that Sen Constable Faulkner’s use of force had not been justified, and that there had been more appropriate options.
The review found the dragging had been “highly inappropriate” and “would have resulted in unnecessary injury risk.”
“It was highly painful and it contributed to further additional physiologic stress to a person suffering respiratory distress,” the review found.
Sen Constable Faulkner told the court he accepted his use of force had been “horrendous.”
“I’ve seen the footage … I certainly won’t be doing it again.”
Detective Sgt Downing told the court that she had recommended that Snr Cst Faulkner be referred to the discipline referral unit, whereas the other three officers were recommended to be dealt with via local managerial resolution.
Detective Sgt Downing said none of the allegations against the four officers were of a criminal standard. No charges have ever been laid in relation to the incident.
The inquest also heard evidence from advanced care paramedic Tyrone Attard, who had made the decision not to transport Mr Kerle to hospital.
Mr Attard said Mr Kerle had provided them with the wrong year of birth, and that they had been acting under the belief he was 48 – not 68.
Mr Attard said if they knew Mr Kerle had been 68 that would have changed his advice to police at the time.
He accepted that with hindsight, he could have provided police with more thorough advice on how to appropriately handle Mr Kerle, knowing that he was suffering from COPD.
Mr Attard said he hadn’t considered it necessary to transport Mr Kerle to hospital because he appeared to be managing the condition appropriately.
Mr Kerle had instructed him that he was using his inhaler and had made plans to visit his GP, Mr Attard said.
The court heard Mr Kerle’s heart rate was at times greater than 120bmps while speaking with the ambulance officers.
Mr Attard accepted that this was concerning and that a more thorough assessment should have been completed.
But he did not accept Mr Kerle necessarily needed to have been taken to the hospital.
“We were led to believe on the day that, from himself, that he was not concerned enough in his own condition prior to QPS being there and that he would not have called us if they had not entered the premises,” Mr Attard said.
Because they had been provided with the wrong date of birth, Mr Attard said they had been unable to look up Mr Kerle’s medical records – which would have revealed that Mr Kerle had been in hospital just weeks earlier.
“The only information we could go off was verbal information from himself,” he said.
Mr Attard said he had witnessed the police officers becoming increasingly frustrated with Mr Kerle’s apparent obstruction.
He said he didn’t see a “good portion” of the extrication process, but that Mr Kerle had appeared to be resisting the officers.
“It appeared that he was tripping … There was nothing on (the officer’s) face to indicate any sort of change in the seriousness of the matter or his condition,” he said.
He said if he believed Mr Kerle was experiencing a medical episode, he would have stepped in.
Mr Attard said he had also seen an officer “kick” Mr Kerle into the police vehicle.
Acting Sergeant Faulkner said he had “pushed” Mr Kerle into the van with his foot, and that this was necessary at times.
Mr Attard said he told the police officers that if they had any concerns about Mr Kerle’s health to call them back, but Acting Sergeant Faulkner could not recall that.
The inquest is expected to continue throughout the week.
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