Zachary Rolfe’s father ‘intimidated’ officer, inquest hears
The father of Zachary Rolfe has been accused at an inquest of trying to intimidate the officer in charge of a NT police operation on the night his son shot dead an Indigenous man.
The father of Constable Zachary Rolfe has been accused at an inquest of trying to intimidate the officer in charge of a Northern Territory police operation on the night his son shot dead an Indigenous man.
But Richard Rolfe told The Australian he only wanted to see the actions of Sergeant Julie Frost investigated during the inquest.
Sergeant Frost was the officer-in-charge at Yuendumu Police Station on the night Constable Rolfe shot Walker three times during a botched arrest attempt after Walker had stabbed him in the shoulder with a pair of surgical scissors.
Three days before the shooting, her domestic partner, Senior Constable Chris Hand, was one of two Yuendumu police officers chased out of a house by Walker with an axe when they tried to apprehend him.
In March, Constable Rolfe was found not guilty of Walker’s murder.
But on the first day of an inquest into Walker’s death, counsel for the NT Police Ian Freckelton QC raised concerns about a series of news stories and opinion pieces published on Darwin news website the NT Independent.
In one of those articles Mr Rolfe questioned why the NT police executive had never reviewed Sergeant Frost’s actions and decisions on the night of the fatal shooting.
“Although the Commissioner is quite prepared to harness all his resources to do a deep dive into every corner of Zach’s life, he has chosen to avoid spending 10 minutes reviewing the actions of the officer in charge at Yuendumu, Sergeant Julie Frost, who refused to provide any first aid to Kumanjayi Walker despite being the most medically qualified person in the community on the night of the incident,” Mr Rolfe wrote on September 2.
Dr Freckelton said the NT Independent had published “article after article frequently quoting the father of Zach Rolfe”.
“What troubles us is not that they have taken a particular stand but if a publication crosses the line into … attempted intimidation, then we say there is a problem,” he told the inquest.
“We say that has happened on multiple occasions.”
Dr Freckelton submitted a series of articles for Coroner Elisabeth Armitage to review.
“I refer your honour to a campaign,” he said.
“A particular person who has been a target of the campaign which appears to be a combined campaign between Richard Rolfe and the NT Independent has been Sergeant Julie Frost, who was the sergeant in charge of the Yuendumu Police Station at the time of the incident.”
Dr Freckelton said Sergeant Frost had now requested to give evidence to the inquest via audiovisual link, rather than attend the hearing in person.
Mr Rolfe told The Australian it was “extremely disappointing to hear that counsel for NT Police would accuse me of trying to intimidate Julie Frost”.
“My only desire is for the truth about her actions on the night of the shooting, as well as in the days leading up to that – specifically with regards to her response to the axe incident, to be interrogated in the coronial,” he said.
Counsel assisting the Coroner Peggy Dwyer told the inquest that on the material she had seen it was “patently false” to suggest Sergeant Frost had refused to provide first aid to Walker.
“Sergeant Julie Frost had been a nurse prior to becoming a police officer but she had not practised as a nurse for some 14 years,” she said.
“After the shooting (Walker) was being ably assisted by Constable Rolfe and Constable (James) Kirstenfeldt who had advanced first-aid training because of their experience in the army.”
Dr Dwyer said Sergeant Frost had called an ambulance and was busy dealing with concerned community members while Constable Rolfe and Constable Kirstenfeldt delivered first aid.
“She has felt intimidated and concerned by the articles suggesting she has done something improper,” she said.
But Mr Rolfe stood by his comments.
“There is no doubt that Frost failed to provide any first aid to Kumanjayi Walker on the night of the shooting despite being the most medically qualified person in Yuendumu at that time,” he said.
“This failure should be thoroughly investigated in my opinion but if the counsel for NT Police believes this is not of any relevance to the Walker family and the Yuendumu community then I accept that is his view.”
NT Independent editor Christopher Walsh said the publication’s reporting was sourced from a draft coronial report that the NT police had suppressed from the public.
“That report was scathing of everyone’s handling of the Yuendumu shooting, including Sergeant Julie Frost, Constable Zachary Rolfe and many others,” he said.
“We note that one of the stories published on Friday publicly exposed the very matters that Constable Rolfe’s legal team is currently attempting to block the Coroner from exploring.
“The NT Independent stands behind its comprehensive reporting on this matter that presented a full and balanced representation of a matter of significant public interest. Our reporting speaks for itself.”
Dr Freckelton also raised concerns about parts of the draft coronial report being made public before the inquest but said he would not be making an application in relation to the matter.
Matt Cunningham is the Sky News northern Australia correspondent
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