Coronial inquest hears Kumanjayi Walker posed ‘no danger’ after chasing police with an axe

Kumanjayi Walker was merely being ‘performative’ when he threatened police with an axe and there was ‘no urgency’ to arrest him, an inquest has heard.

Barrister Andrew Boe. Picture: Jason Walls

Kumanjayi Walker was merely being “performative” when he threatened police with an axe and there was “no urgency” to arrest him after he fled custody despite him having a history of domestic violence against his teenage girlfriend, an inquest has heard.

The barrister representing Walker’s relatives at the inquest into his death said he posed “no further danger” after he chased two Yuendumu police officers with an axe. He added that the ­arrest alert labelling him a serious violent offender should have also said he “posed no danger” before an Immediate Response Team was deployed to arrest him.

On Wednesday Andrew Boe, representing the Walker family, put to Deputy Commissioner Murray Smalpage that there was “no inherent urgency” in arresting Walker after he escaped custody at the Central Australian Aboriginal ­Alcohol Programs Unit in October 2019 and that it was “deficient” of police to ­immediately pursue him.

“From the time he left ­(CAAAPU) to the arrest attempt on November 6, there was – in factual terms – no urgency to return him?” he asked. “They treated the arrest attempt as being required with some matters of urgency when there were, in fact, none?”

Coroner Elisabeth Armitage interjected to remind Mr Boe of other factors at play.

“I don’t know that I can accept that proposition because there had been the issues with the nursing houses and there were also the other concerns in relation to the girlfriend,” she said.

Mr Boe said it was a “mistaken” belief Walker had been ­involved in break-ins at medical staff accommodation at Yuen­dumu but conceded Superintendent Jody Nobbs had given evidence about concerns for the safety of Walker’s girlfriend, Rickisha Robertson, and believed she “needed to be protected”.

On November 6, 2019 – three days before Constable Zach Rolfe fatally shot Walker – Senior Constable First Class Christopher Hand and Sergeant Lanyon Smith tried to arrest the 19-year-old at Yuendumu. Walker threatened the two officers with an axe before fleeing into the bush.

It was revealed during Constable Rolfe’s murder trial that following the axe incident Constable Hand had emailed Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst saying that he did not believe Walker “wanted to chop us up”.

“He had plenty of opportunity to assault us and he didn’t, and he ran out of the house because he didn’t want to be arrested,” Constable Hand had said. Mr Boe on Wednesday asked Mr Smalpage if he agreed with the Yuendumu police officers’ assessment that Walker’s “utilisation of the axe was more for effect and dramatic, and not indicative of an intent to be violent”.

“That is the evidence they gave and I can understand that and ­accept that,” Mr Smalpage said.

Mr Boe suggested the officers’ beliefs should have been detailed on Walker’s arrest alert before Constable Rolfe’s team was sent to arrest him.

“Why would that not have been put out for members looking at arrest alerts and say, ‘listen, he did use an axe but he is 19, he’s got cognitive difficulties and the members say that they felt no further threat from him or to police generally because they felt that the usage of the weapon was more for effect than for use?’” Mr Boe asked.

Mr Smalpage said police officers creating arrest alerts could not “write a novel”.

“In terms of how alerts are placed upon the system, I think it was appropriate they put those (facts). They don’t write a novel when they put on an alert,” he said. “They put a high-level alert that would then initiate if you want to delve in deeper to look at the circumstances surrounding it, but the alerts don’t include the depth of information that you’re relaying.”

Mr Boe insisted that after the axe incident, Walker posed “no threat” to police.

The inquest will resume at Alice Springs on Thursday.