NT Coroner clears police of triple fatal crash on Christmas Day

The Northern Territory coroner has cleared police officers of any wrongdoing over a crash that killed three Aboriginal Territorians.

THE Northern Territory coroner has cleared police officers of any wrongdoing over a crash that killed three Aboriginal Territorians on Christmas Day in 2019.

Coroner Greg Cavanagh described the fatal crash – which also left two others injured – as an “immense tragedy”, but ultimately found that police did nothing “other than what was expected of them”.

As such, Mr Cavenagh concluded the deaths of D Wongaway, S Wongaway and D Mumu not be categorised as deaths in custody.

He also did not consider the moments leading to the tragic accident a “police pursuit”, as counsel for the family had suggested.

The crash occurred about 7pm on Spearwood Ave in Sadadeen, after driver D Wongaway sped off from a trailing police vehicle at speeds potentially as high as 142km/h before clipping a turning vehicle and tumbling into three trees.

CCTV footage captured by a petrol station on Spearwood Ave in the moments leading up to the tragic crash. Picture: PFES

It was found D had a blood-alcohol reading of 0.24 per cent at the time of the crash, almost five times the legal limit.

Moments earlier, officers had performed a U-turn and started following the silver Mitsubishi Outlander after an automatic number plate reader alerted them the vehicle was not registered.

But when the Outlander sped up and dangerously swerved passed two other vehicles, the two officers pulled over and let the vehicle drive off.

At no time did police use lights or sirens, nor did they give any direction to the driver to stop.

In his findings, Mr Cavenagh said categorising the fatalities as deaths in custody would not be appropriate.

“On any reading it is difficult to see that the deceased’s were in the process of being taken into the custody or the control of the police. If there was to be such a process it had not commenced,” he wrote.

The site of the Christmas Day crash: Spearwood Ave in Sadadeen, Alice Springs. Picture: Lee Robinson.

“However, there is the likelihood that the persons in the Outlander were, by speeding away, at the very least trying to evade police.”

The coroner also rejected the family’s submission that driving an unregistered vehicle was not a serious enough offence to warrant a traffic apprehension, given the danger of the apprehension and potential pursuit.

“It may be that one day systems and technology will obviate the need to stop vehicles for such noncompliance but on these facts police would have been frustrated in carrying out their core function of ‘managing road safety education and enforcement measures’ if they did not stop unregistered vehicles,” the coroner wrote.

However, Mr Cavenagh said the tragedy could serve as an opportunity for police to “seriously consider” how they might be able to “lessen the risks”.

“But it should also be remembered that the police turning their vehicle and attempting to close the gap to the deceased’s vehicle was not the proximate cause of these deaths,” he added.

“It was an immense tragedy and left their families and community absolutely devastated. The more so because the chain of events commenced over a relatively insignificant regulatory breach – the vehicle being unregistered.”