Darwin judge criticises Commissioner’s attempt to withhold Peter Skeen’s police shooting report

A report into the shooting of an Aboriginal teenager in the Territory will be released, unless the new Police Commissioner steps in to block it.

Palmerston teenager Peter Skeen was shot at six times by NT Police during an incident at Gray on March 8, 2022. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The newly-appointed Police Commissioner’s “misconceived” attempt to withhold a report into the shooting of a Aboriginal teenager has been overruled by the courts.

Darwin Local Court judge Ben O’Loughlin ordered the release of an unredacted internal police investigation into the shooting of a teenager in March 2022.

Peter Skeen was just 19-years-old when a police officer fired at him six times after he allegedly threatened cops with a spear during a confrontation in Gray, a suburb of Palmerston.

Three bullets hit the teenager in the chest, neck and abdomen, leaving him in a 13-day coma.

Skeen was then charged with two counts of assaulting police and going armed in public.

Palmerston teenager Peter Skeen was shot at six times by NT Police during an incident at Gray on March 8, 2022. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Defence lawyer Clancy Dane has fought NT Police over the disclosure of 70 documents, which could show officers unlawfully used force against the teenager.

On Thursday Mr O’Loughlin ordered the release of the custody incident report, which outlines the actions of the two attending officers.

The court was previously shown a copy of the heavily redacted document, with an entire page blacked out by censors.

Then-acting Police Commissioner Michael Murphy’s lawyer Ralph Bonig said the findings of the report could not be released as they would disclose operationally sensitive information or reveal police methodology, information or tactics.

But Mr O’Loughlin dismissed this claim and gave Mr Murphy seven days to disclose the report, or lodge an appeal to his decision.

A judge has called an attempt to withhold an internal police report by the newly-appointed Police Commissioner Michael Murphy “misconceived”. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“If they really want to press what I think is a misconceived claim for public interest immunity – or an insufficient one – then he needs to bring a stay application,” he said.

Mr O’Loughlin did not explain his reasons for approving the unredacted document, because in doing so it would deny the police their chance to appeal.

“The cat would be out of the bag,” he said.

However, an application by Skeen’s lawyer to obtain all emails discussing the release of the report was dismissed as having no “forensic purpose”.

The court has previously heard police initially denied the report even existed, and then refused to hand it over even to prosecutors.

Mr O’Loughlin said due to the scale of the information being opposed by police he needed more time to make his full decision, adjourning the hearing to September 15.

“There are 55 documents that I have to go through individually, and I’ve done two of them,” he said.