John Edwards inquest: Cop’s report about killer dad approved in two minutes

The mother of two children shot dead by their dad reported that he kicked and slapped them - but the officers then made some shocking errors.

A NSW Police sergeant looked over a police report including critical errors about a man who went on to murder his two children for less than two minutes before approving it with no changes, an inquest has heard.

A year and a half before her children were killed, Olga Edwards visited Hornsby Police Station and disclosed three separate assaults she said her estranged husband inflicted on her children.

The sergeant who signed off on the report, Richard Jackson, conceded on Friday he should have sent it back to the constable and asked her to speak to the kids about the allegations.

Jack, 15, and Jennifer, 13, were gunned down by their father John Edwards on July 5, 2018, at the northwest Sydney home where they lived with their mother Olga. He then killed himself.

Five months later, Olga took her own life.

John was able to obtain a gun licence despite a long history of domestic violence, an inquest before state coroner Teresa O’Sullivan heard last month.

A year and a half before Jack and Jennifer died, Olga Edwards (pictured) visited Hornsby Police Station and disclosed three separate assaults she said her estranged husband inflicted on her children.

The three incidents Olga reported to Hornsby Police included an instance where John hit and kicked Jack for using his iPod and another where he slapped Jennifer when she didn’t go to sleep.

Senior constable Brooke Cooper, who took the report on December 29, 2016, said last month she made several errors in recording the complaint.

She named Olga as the victim instead of Jack or Jennifer, and marked the report as “no offence detected” instead of as “assault”.

Sgt Jackson looked at the report for less than two minutes before approving it, the inquest heard on Friday.

“Obviously rushed, yes,” he said as he was confronted with the tight time frame.

“It’s not the only thing we do. There’s phones ringing, people coming in and out, questions asked.”

The way the report was categorised — a “critical part” of the process — meant it did not trigger further investigative steps, Sgt Jackson said.

The sergeant agreed he should have picked up Sen Const Cooper’s errors, but rejected the suggestion he should have spent 10-15 minutes on the report.

“What I probably should have done … was resubmitted that event and made her create an outstanding action to speak to the children,” he said.

John Edwards killed his two children.

In the report, Sen Const Cooper wrote Olga’s allegations were a possible “premeditated attempt to influence Family Court proceedings”.

This was for no reason other than said proceedings were afoot, the inquest heard last month.

Sgt Jackson said he “often” sees reports with that annotation, but agreed police protocol states it should not affect how reports are dealt with.

He said he formed the impression from the report that Sen Const Cooper thought Olga was being “dishonest” with her.

He initially said the constable was not wrong to list Olga as the victim of the report as she had come to the station to report a “property dispute”, but resiled from that view as he was questioned.

A checklist tool for approving domestic violence reports was introduced in 2017, the court heard.

The inquest is exploring the actions of NSW Police, the NSW Firearms Registry, and various people involved in the Edwards family law proceedings.

It is back in court on November 12.