Dying Rose: ‘Years of trauma’ for family after harrowing police arrest footage

A mum claims her family has endured “years of trauma” after police barged into their home and arrested her son – moments after his sister took her own life. Listen to the podcast episode.

A young Aboriginal man was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after five police officers arrested him on the day his sister took her own life in the backyard of their Alice Springs home.

Justin Goldsmith says he was trying to save his sister Shanarra Bright Campbell, 23, when his mother Lena-Rose Campbell called triple-0 – but instead of an ambulance, NT Police arrived and arrested him, leaving him in hospital.

Harrowing footage, taken by Lena-Rose, shows police dragging Justin screaming through the family home as paramedics perform CPR on his sister’s body, just metres away.

Lena-Rose and Justin both said they were “quiet, working people”, but were impacted “mentally” and “emotionally” by the incident.

They said they both eventually lost their employment due to their trauma from that day.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this story contains images and voices of people who have died.

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“To have all that damage done to us on that (particular day) … it was just beyond,” she said.

“I was ready to go to work that morning, but after finding my daughter dead … I had to eventually resign because I was just a nervous wreck.

“To me personally, it was a big nightmare because I had to deal with all that.”

In two separate videos, Lena-Rose can be heard screaming in a frantic state as Justin is being arrested while Shanarra is being resuscitated on the ground by two paramedics.

A second video shows Justin being carried out by the five officers and can be heard screaming in pain, yelling at the officers that they are “breaking his arm”.

Shanarra Bright Campbell’s mother Lena-Rose. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Shanarra’s family (from left) brother Jerome Campbell, sister Jacinta Campbell and mum mother Lena-Rose. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“They were saying, ‘Get up’, but they were holding me down,” he said.

“My head was bloody and I was sort of knocked out for a bit from the bathroom and I couldn’t breathe properly because they were using a lot of force and I was physically drained.

“I just wanted to see my sister and if the ambulance could bring her back to life.”

Justin was taken to the Alice Springs Police Station and charged with assaulting police, hindering police and resisting arrest.

He was eventually taken to the hospital and treated for cuts and concussion.

In the months after his arrest, Justin was diagnosed with anxiety, depression and PTSD. He said he still struggled to cope with the horror of that day.

Shanarra Bright Campbell. Picture: Supplied

Shocking footage shows police dragging Justin through his family home – just metres from his sister's body. Picture: Supplied by family

Over the past four years, Lena-Rose said she had been in and out of hospital on multiple occasions because of the trauma she suffered.

“I was already terrorised as it is and traumatised of just losing her and then to have that other thing to double up on me, that was just like a living nightmare,” she said.

“I can’t sleep. I’ve been in and out of hospital so many times … with all the trauma.

“I physically and mentally wasn’t in the right state of mind. I’m still trying to get out of that crisis and with that happening, it’s just done too much damage to me.”

Shanarra and her family’s story is being investigated as part of Dying Rose, a podcast that looks into the deaths of six Aboriginal women and how police respond to missing and murdered First Nations women across Australia.

Lena-Rose and Justin spent years pursuing legal avenues against NT Police and, last year, reached a settlement.

However, they said they were not satisfied by the terms.

The Advertiser has approached NT Police regarding the matter and outlined the assertions put forward by Lena-Rose and Justin about what took place that day.

NT Police said it would not be commenting on the matter.

Originally published as Dying Rose: ‘Years of trauma’ for family after harrowing police arrest footage