Deputy Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon sorry for late-night blow-up at emergency service crews

One of NSW’s top police officers has apologised to emergency service crews after refusing to be helped when he collapsed in the ­gardens of a hotel last week.

One of the state’s top-ranked police officers has apologised to emergency service crews after refusing to be helped when he collapsed in the ­gardens of a Goulburn hotel last week.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon was found lying down in the grounds of the Mercure Hotel, where he had been staying, at around 11pm last Wednesday.

NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

Mr Lanyon was in town with some of his senior colleagues ahead of the police attestation ceremony on Friday, where 194 new probationary constables at the NSW Police Academy would be inducted — the first full ­ceremony to have been held since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

An ambulance source, who relayed the events of Wednesday night to a NSW Labor MP, claimed it was hotel staff who called for help after noticing a man who appeared to need help.

Mr Lanyon at Remembrance Day last year. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dylan Coker

But when ambulance crews arrived, Mr Lanyon, who was not in uniform, became agitated and argumentative, the source alleged.

Police also responded to the call-out, with at least one officer attending the scene.

The source said Mr Lanyon became even more agitated when the police officer tried to assist, making a phone call to NSW Ambulance Commissioner Dominic Morgan before passing the phone to an ambulance crew member.

It is understood Mr Morgan advised the crew to treat Mr Lanyon as they would any other patient.

NSW Police confirmed the incident had occurred, and that the man had acknowledged being difficult.

However, this was attributed to the senior officer having had a “minor medical episode” and not wanting to be transported to hospital.

In a statement, police said the officer would be taking steps to personally apologise to the crews that had attended.

“NSW Police can confirm that a senior officer had a minor medical episode outside his accommodation in Goulburn,” the statement said.

“The officer acknowledges he was difficult and did not want to be transported to hospital as he was aware of his condition. He apologises if he presented any difficulty to those officers upon their arrival and will take steps to apologise to them in person.”

The statement said the ­officer’s treating doctor had suggested the medical episode had occurred as a result of “exhaustion and dehydration”.

It is understood no record of the incident was made by police, with one source ­suggesting the lack of a record was simply that it had been a “non-event”.

“We don’t do sit reps (situation reports) on everything,” the source said.

The NSW MP said the ambulance source claimed officers had made a complaint about how the incident was handled. A NSW Ambulance spokesman confirmed crews had assisted a man on the night, but did not respond to questions about whether a complaint had been made.

“About 11pm on Wednesday 24 February 2021, NSW Police requested NSW Ambulance to assist them at a Goulburn address,” the spokesman said.

“A male patient was assessed by paramedics and was not transported.”