Teen shot by cops, Peter Skeen, seeks internal police documents in court

A young Palmerston man who was repeatedly shot at by police while allegedly brandishing a spear has demanded the cops hand over a report into the shooting along with other documents.

Lawyers for Palmerston man Peter Skeen have demanded police hand over internal documents relating a confrontation in which he was repeatedly shot at.

Lawyers for a man shot by police in Palmerston last year after he allegedly threatened them with a spear have demanded the force hand over internal documents relating to the case.

Peter Skeen, then aged 19, was shot at six times by officers during the confrontation in Gray on March 8, and was later charged with assaulting police and going armed in public.

On Monday, his lawyer, Russel Marks, told the Darwin Local Court his legal team wanted NT Police to hand over three sets of documents they say are relevant to the case against him.

Counsel for NT Police, Ralph Bonig, said the force would willingly handover an internal report into the shooting but objected to producing communications between officers about it.

“The third category would be the subject of an objection to production on the grounds of relevance, the second category, your honour, there is no such document, which really leaves the first category,” he said.

“The first category, your honour, relates to, in essence, an internal investigation into the events of the 8th of March, that investigation, I’m instructed, has not yet concluded, but will very shortly conclude.

“The Commissioner has instructed me that report will be released to (the defence) and to the prosecution, but the Commissioner needs four weeks to conclude that investigation.”

Mr Marks said Skeen’s lawyers were still “continuing to press all three categories of documents on the summons”, but that could change once they had seen the report.

“If we get the report in relation to number one, that may determine the matter in and of itself, or it may not, we’ll have to see the report before we make any decisions in relation to that,” he said.

Chief Judge Elizabeth Morris adjourned the hearing until February 27.

“I think if there is an opportunity for the summons to be resolved without argument we should probably explore that,” she said.