Man shot by police still in the dark about case against him, court hears

Lawyers for a Palmerston man shot at six times by police after allegedly threatening them with a spear are yet to see statements or body-worn camera footage from the officers involved.

LAWYERS for a Palmerston man shot at six times by police after allegedly threatening them with a spear are yet to see statements or body-worn camera footage from the officers involved.

Peter Skeen, 20, faced the Darwin Local Court for the first time on Tuesday, where his lawyer, Clancy Dane, said he had only received “a quote unquote preliminary brief” of evidence that morning.

Mr Dane said the brief only contained a single officer’s statement, which did not come from either of the police directly involved in the incident.

“The brief indicates that those statements have been prepared and are in the possession of the (Director of Public Prosecutions) and the police, as well as the body-worn footage,” he said.

“In those circumstances that’s required to be included in the preliminary brief but it hasn’t been.

“The family and Mr Skeen are, understandably, very anxious to know what happened and what the case against him is.”

Peter Skeen's uncle Ranald Link speaks to the media. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

Skeen was charged with going armed in public, assaulting police and recklessly endangering life following the incident on March 8 this year.

Speaking outside court, Skeen’s uncle, Ranald Link, said his nephew was still “going through a lot of pain, physically and mentally” and would likely spend up to 12 months in hospital.

“He’s got four bullet wounds, a couple to the chest, one skipped his neck, one to the abdomen, they had to cut him open because it hit a main artery, cut his guts open,” he said.

“They can’t do no MRI scans or nothing because of the shrapnel still in his body.”

Mr Link said Skeen would fight the charges and the family was disappointed they were still in the dark about what the police say happened during the shooting and what the footage shows.

“It’s very traumatic for the family, trying to stay together, it’s not going too well, just with some of the disappointment from not having this evidence brought to our lawyers and not having any kind of direction we can go in with the case,” he said.

Defence lawyer Clancy Dane. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

“We’ve had one statement from an Aboriginal liaison officer who wasn’t even at the scene. “We’ve got nothing else from any other police officers, also no body-worn footage and I find it kind of strange and odd that none of this stuff’s happened.”

The case will return to court on June 22 with judge Ben O’Loughlin ordering the rest of the brief of evidence to be served by May 10.

In a separate matter, Skeen is also facing one charge of aggravated unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

Originally published as Man shot by police still in the dark about case against him, court hears