Cop shot by Malcolm Naden gets payout after suing NSW Police
The police officer shot by double murderer Malcolm Naden has been given a payout after taking legal action against the NSW Police Force. Tactical Operations Unit officer Brad Macfadyen sued the police for negligence, claiming a series of shortcuts and operational failures led to him being shot.
NSW
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A police officer shot by fugitive double murderer Malcolm Naden has won a massive negligence payout from the police force.
Tactical Operations Unit officer Brad Macfadyen was injured after he and two other officers stumbled across Naden’s remote bush camp near Nowendoc, in the Barrington Tops, in 2011.
Naden admitted to homicide detectives he tried to kill Mr Macfadyen, who now suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and was forced to leave the NSW Police Force because of the shooting.
Mr Macfadyen sued the police for negligence, claiming a series of shortcuts and operational failures led to him being shot by Naden with a stolen .22 rifle.
He also claimed police chiefs ignored his worsening mental state, thrusting him into the spotlight following Naden’s arrest in March, 2012, more than four months after Mr Macfadyen was shot.
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It is understood Mr Macfadyen had sued for $1 million for his ongoing pain and suffering. Although both parties have signed confidentiality agreements as part of the settlement, the payout is believed to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Naden, the country’s most wanted man, had been on the run for seven years, hiding in remote bushland after fleeing Dubbo in 2005.
Mr Macfadyen, a highly trained officer within the crack Tactical Operations Unit, was called to assist in Strike Force Durkin, the massive operation set up to track Naden, who had become an embarrassment for police.
After murdering his cousin Lateesha Nolan and another cousin’s partner Kristy Scholes he had repeatedly given police the slip.
On December 7, 2011, Mr Macfadyen was sent with another tactical unit member and a dog squad officer and dog to search a specific area of bushland near Nowendoc.
The previous day, the team had found a cache of weapons after signals were picked up from a tracking device hidden inside a sleeping bag that Naden had stolen.
Mr Macfadyen claims senior police ignored complaints from him and another officer that three-man teams were inadequate and dangerous.
In documents filed in the NSW District Court, Mr Macfadyen claimed normal TOU teams consisted of six officers.
He said only one officer was able to use their high-powered rifles because the dog squad officer was handling the dog and Mr Macfadyen was holding the large tracking device, which had originally been designed to monitor koalas.
The officers also complained that the danger was increased because mobile phones and satellite equipment were unreliable in the area.
When they stumbled across Naden’s bush camp, he was just metres away when he shot Mr Macfadyen in the shoulder.
The officers spent three hours in the bush before being rescued.
Both Mr Macfadyen’s legal counsel and the NSW Police Force said they could not comment on the settlement because of confidentiality agreements.
Originally published as Cop shot by Malcolm Naden gets payout after suing NSW Police