Sergeant Ian Nankivell denies coaching Zach Rolfe on how to justify fatal shooting

An NT Police sergeant has denied a text in which he explained how a ‘member has to answer his critics’ amounted to ‘a tight, compact, intelligent, comprehensive legal defence’ for Zach Rolfe.

An NT Police sergeant has denied telling a friend of Zach Rolfe’s ”how he could legally justify a fatal police shooting”. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

A NT Police sergeant who sent a friend of Zach Rolfe’s “a prompt” about how an officer should “answer his critics” has denied he was offering him a legal justification for homicide.

Constable Rolfe was acquitted on all charges in March last year after fatally shooting 19-year-old Warlpiri-Luritja man Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu on November 9, 2019.

On Thursday, an inquest into Mr Walker’s death heard Sergeant Ian Nankivell – who had been involved in an unrelated fatal police shooting in Victoria in 1994 – sent Constable Rolfe’s friend and fellow officer, Mitchell Hansen, a text message on November 10 saying “the member has to answer his critics with IAMO+P”

In the message, Sergeant Nankivell explained the acronym referred to Mr Walker’s intent “to stab the police”, as well as his ability, means, and opportunity to do so, which precluded police from any other option but lethal force.

“The shit c*** was telling them he was going to stab the police,” he wrote.

“He had the ability to do so because he both said it and was a ypung (sic) fit male who (looking at Rolfe) would have had size disparity.

“He had an edged weapon and told the police he (more tham like said) (sic) was going kill them.

“The members let him get close enough to be afforded the opportunity to stab one of them and coupled with all of the above...... IAMO+P = PRECLUSION.”

Constable Hansen then forwarded the message on to Constable Rolfe who replied: “Awesome awesome awesome, thank you for that brother.”

Sergeant Nankivell told the court that at the time he mistakenly believed Constable Hansen was present at the time of the shooting and “might have watched Kumanjayi Walker die”.

Under questioning by counsel assisting the Coroner, Patrick Coleridge, Sergeant Nankivell said he sent the text as “a prompt as to what may be relevant in the circumstances of the shooting” that was “about mental health” and had “nothing to do with justifications”.

Mitchell Hansen told the court last year he had “naively forwarded that message on”. Picture: Jason Walls

When asked to clarify where in the text he had said “anything about Mitchell Hanson’s mental health”, Sergeant Nankivell said it was “in the message that you don’t see there that would have been sent earlier”.

“There is obviously other stuff that was sent, but I just don’t recall what it was and it was about peer support,” he said.

“It was about me trying to tell him that I would support him with whatever happened. I didn’t know what happened, but that’s what it was about.”

When asked how “denigrating a young man who, for all you knew, Mitchell Hanson had watched die” as a “shit c***” was “meant to support Mitchell Hanson’s mental health”, Sergeant Nankivell said “they were horrible words used”.

“There’s no excuse for that,” he said.

“I apologise wholeheartedly to everyone affected.”

Sergeant Nankivell said despite referring to Constable Rolfe by name, his message was “nothing to do with the actual incident” and denied “telling him how he could legally justify a fatal police shooting” or that he expected the message to be sent on to him.

“I can see that that’s how it looks, in hindsight, I can see how it looks, but that was not the intention of sending that message,” he said.

“Once it was sent to him it was out of my hands, I had no intention for it to be sent to Rolfe, I deny that emphatically.”

Sergeant Nankivell also told the court he was using “a different meaning for the (word) critics”.

“The critic to me, my main critic has always been myself, and in that circumstance where … your mind is in a world of fog, if you’ve ever been involved in anything like that, and pity help anyone who ever has been, no one thinks straight,” he said.

“The IMAOP, as I said earlier, is designed to guide you through the process when your mind is full of fog and dread.”

Under questioning from Yuendumu community barrister Julian McMahon SC, Sergeant Nankivell rejected a suggestion his explanation was “just nonsense”.

“You provided him with a tight, compact, intelligent, comprehensive legal defence to be used in a scenario such as this,” Mr McMahon said.

Sergeant Nankivell replied: “It’s not what it was intended for.”

The inquest continues on Friday.