Zach Rolfe texted video of ‘illegal shoulder charge’ on wrong man to relative, Kumanjayi Walker inquest hears

The inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker has heard Zach Rolfe sent a relative a copy of his body-worn video footage, bragging about giving a suspect ‘the old illegal shoulder charge’.

Zach Rolfe sent a video of himself tackling an Aboriginal man to the ground to a relative, while bragging about having “treated him to the old illegal shoulder charge”, a court has heard.

Constable Rolfe was acquitted on all charges in March over the November 2019 fatal police shooting of Warlpiri-Luritja man Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu, now the subject of an ongoing Coronial inquest in the Alice Springs Local Court.

On Wednesday, counsel assisting the Coroner, Peggy Dwyer, played to the court body-worn camera footage showing Constable Rolfe chasing a man through the Todd Mall less than two months earlier.

Dr Dwyer said a use of force report completed at the time relayed that Constable Rolfe and his colleagues had stopped the man outside the Todd Tavern after spotting a “suspicious vehicle” nearby.

The report said they found a man matching the description of an offender who had previously escaped from custody who they intended to arrest after he produced a driver’s licence that was not his own.

The video shows the man then running away with Constable Rolfe in pursuit until the pair reach Sporties restaurant where the officer pushes the man into a metal guard rail and he falls to the ground.

Dr Dwyer said the use of force review found the push was “proportionate, reasonable and necessary” to “prevent a breach of the peace”, despite it later being revealed that the man was not the person the officers were looking for.

The report stated he had suffered a shoulder injury after being pushed which was “not major” but did require admission to hospital for “apparent swelling only”.

Dr Dwyer also read from a report later prepared by police for the purposes of the inquest, in which Superintendent David Proctor concluded that the man “appears to slow down considerably”.

“Constable Rolfe did not slow down and ran full-force into the man, striking him with outstretched hands,” the report reads.

Zach Rolfe speaks with his lawyer, David Edwardson KC, outside the Supreme Court earlier this year. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

“This caused the man to crash with considerable force into a fence outside Sporties.”

Dr Dwyer played a video downloaded from Constable Rolfe’s mobile phone which appears to show him filming the body-worn camera footage of the chase “so he had a copy of the footage on his own phone”.

The day after the pursuit, Dr Dwyer said Constable Rolfe texted a relative, whose identity has been suppressed from publication, saying the “chase body-worn is mine … haha”.

“Treated him to the old illegal shoulder charge,” he wrote.

“Because I wear body armour I’m not as rapid as the locals initially, but they still can’t outrun me.

“Turns out the dude wasn’t who we were looking for and is now in a sling for nothing, haha, don’t run from police.”

In response to questions from Dr Dwyer, former NT Police superintendent Pauline Vickery said sending body-worn footage to friends or family members was “not something that I would condone at all”.

Dr Dwyer said there were “a number of concerning things in that text message”.

“Firstly, laughing at the fact that someone who wasn’t the suspect ends up in a sling for nothing, running from the police,” she said.

“Filming, on his own personal phone, body-worn footage which is evidence … sending it to a member of his family so he can laugh about it, does that concern you?”

Ms Vickery replied: “Yes.”

On Tuesday, an NT Police sergeant told the inquest he rang Constable Rolfe after he was charged with Mr Walker’s murder to tell him his colleagues were “behind you 100 per cent”.

Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage is presiding over an ongoing inquest in the Alice Springs Local Court after Constable Rolfe was acquitted on all charges in March over Mr Walker’s fatal shooting.

Sergeant Alistair Gall told the inquiry he had not seen the body-worn camera footage of the shooting in Yuendumu in November 2019 before he rang Constable Rolfe in Canberra, where he was on bail, “to offer your support”.

“When you said ‘We are all behind you 100 per cent’ were you talking about the people you worked with in Alice Springs?” counsel for the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, Phillip Boulten SC asked.

“I was talking about his colleagues, who yes, primarily are in Alice Springs,” Sergeant Gall replied.

Sergeant Gall also agreed that he had heard other police officers at Alice Springs “express the view that the charging of Mr Rolfe was inappropriate” in the days after the shooting.

He said there was a meeting held involving about 30 or 40 officers to discuss the fact Constable Rolfe had been charged with murder.

“The meeting involved one of our members essentially advising everybody that was in attendance at the meeting that Zach Rolfe had been charged,” he said.

“The sentiment being expressed around the room was incredulity, surprise and sadness.”

Sergeant Gall said he had always viewed Constable Rolfe as an “excellent, proactive, athletic police officer” but had “formed a different view” of his arrest techniques since viewing body-worn camera footage tendered at the inquest.

“I’ve now become more aware of more complaints that he has had in relation to the use of force,” he said.

“Although his arrest techniques were effective, I would suggest that perhaps some more robust intervention early on may have assisted to reduce any further use of force that he may have used.”

Sergeant Alistair Gall denied ‘covering for a mate’ after signing off on Zach Rolfe’s use of force. Picture: Jason Walls

But Sergeant Gall also agreed Constable Rolfe’s use of force was “not significantly different” to his colleagues at the Alice Springs police station.

Earlier on Tuesday, Sergeant Gall admitted he never spoke to a 17-year-old Aboriginal youth who complained about Constable Rolfe’s use of force against him in April 2019, before clearing the white police officer of any wrongdoing.

But despite describing Constable Rolfe as a “friend”, he denied to Parumpurru Committee of Yuendumu Community barrister Julian McMahon SC that he was “covering for a mate”.

Sergeant Gall agreed that he did not speak to the teenager, or watch his recorded interview before he “took Rolfe’s version as the accurate version because he was a police officer”.

“Can I suggest that you wouldn’t have given that answer if the person making the use of force complaint was a well respected white member of the community who was making a strong public complaint about the use of force against her by the Alice Springs Police Station?” Mr McMahon asked.

Sergeant Gall disagreed but accepted that the effect of his engagement with the 17-year-old, which was limited to a discussion after the investigation was already over, was to tell him “he had no voice in the entire inquiry”.

“Let’s be blunt — you told him that his use of force complaint wasn’t upheld,” Mr McMahon said.

Zach Rolfe is due to appear at the inquest later this month.

“You didn’t consult with him, you didn’t interrogate him, you didn’t get a statement from him.

“All that you did was tell him ‘Sorry, you lost, Constable Rolfe has been exonerated’.”

Sergeant Gall replied: “Look, I concur that, in effect, that was the outcome, yes.”

“And then you’ve taken one version of events, which is the white police officer’s and you’ve said I’m accepting that version without doing the proper inquiry,” Mr McMahon said.

“That’s what happened, isn’t it?”

Sergeant Gall replied: “Effectively, yes.”

He rejected a suggestion from Mr McMahon that “the culture underlying that incident is covering for your mates” but accepted another “less palatable way of characterising it”.

“It’s covering for a white police officer at the expense of whatever the black victim of violence might have to say,” Mr McMahon suggested.

“It does appear that way,” Sergeant Gall replied.

The inquest continues on Wednesday.