Courtney Topic inquest: Woman shot by police ‘suffered psychosis’
A YOUNG woman brandishing a knife was shot dead by police less than one minute after the first officers arrived on the scene. Courtney Topic was fatally shot within 41 seconds of officers arriving, despite police dispatches identifying her as a possible mental health incident.
NSW
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A YOUNG mentally ill woman was fatally shot by police outside a western Sydney Hungry Jacks after a defective taser failed to stop her as she lurched towards police officers brandishing a knife and holding a cup of soft drink less than one minute after they arrived on the scene.
On the opening day of the coronial inquest into the death of Courtney Topic, 22, the court heard she may have been in a days long psychosis when she decided to take a 30cm-long kitchen knife from her home and walk to the Hungry Jack’s in Hoxton Park to buy a drink on Tuesday, February 10, 2015.
The inquest being held at the Glebe Coroner’s Court will over the course of this week examine the adequacy of police training for responding to people suffering mental health problems and whether police responding to the emergency were given the right information to deal with the situation appropriately.
The inquest will also look at what happened to the defective taser and whether police needed to deploy their weapons or could have used other means to subdue Ms Topic.
Officers approached Ms Topic with weapons drawn deploying capsicum spray, using a defective taser and then fatally shooting her all within 41 seconds of them arriving to finding her holding a knife despite police dispatches identifying the young woman as a possible mental health incident.
Counsel-assisting the coroner Gerard Craddock SC told the court officers arrived at the intersection of Cowpasture Road and Hoxton Park Road with their sirens blaring and lights flashing before bursting out of their cars and demanding Ms Topic dropped the weapon.
“As Constable Ethan Tesoriero got out of his vehicle he said to Probationary Constable Angela Tyson ‘There is a knife you better get your taser ready just in case’,” Mr Craddock told the court.
Courtney Topic inquest: Did ‘sweet girl’ really need to die?
“One or both of them loudly commanded Topic to drop the knife, Tyson with her taser drawn and Tesoriero with his gun drawn.”
Witness reports to emergency services said she had been swinging the knife backwards and forwards, pointing it at her stomach and talking to herself.
A doctor who conducted a post mortem examination of the young woman’s mental health records and actions on that fatal day concluded Ms Topic had been suffering from undiagnosed schizophrenia and was in an untreated psychosis in the days leading up to her death.
Ms Topic’s parents Leesa and Ron were present in Glebe Coroner’s Court and were both reduced to tears alongside other family members as Mr Craddock detailed the tragic events of February 10.
The Carnes Hill woman, who was just a few weeks shy of her 23rd birthday, was shot in the chest and killed by a police officer after a tasered malfunctioned and had no affect in subduing her.
The Topic family’s lawyer, Sophia Beckett, told the inquest Courtney was a much loved family member and a dedicated Woolworths employee.
“She was a central part of her family and a hardworking employee of Woolworths,” she told the court.
“She was seen as a reliable, honest and hard working member of staff who kept to herself.
“Her death was shocking to her family, it was sudden and it was violent.”
The court heard two of the three officers had only had one day of mental health training before the incident while a the third had none at all.
Senior Constable Grace Beasant who took calls from witnesses on the day from Liverpool Police station told the inquest a mental health alert was placed on the emergency dispatches but there was no measure in place to ensure an officer specially trained in dealing with mental health emergencies was assigned to the job.
The inquest continues today before Deputy State Coroner Magistrate Liz Ryan.