By Cameron Myles
A WA Police officer who was acquitted of murder over the shooting death of an Indigenous woman in Geraldton in 2019 has been excoriated by the state’s Corruption and Crime Commission, which found he lied and wrongly charged a driver with unlawful damage after a brief car chase in the Mid West town.
It also found those lies were backed up by the senior constable’s partner in witness statements and follow-up interviews to support the driver’s prosecution.
Brent Wyndham has since resigned from the WA Police Force.Credit: ABC News/Keane Bourke
In a report tabled in parliament on Friday, the commission alleged Senior Constable Brent Wyndham breached WA Police driving policy by twice making contact with a car during the chase, including while executing a “precision intercept technique” manoeuvre, which under the policy was only permitted in exceptional circumstances.
However, after arresting the driver, Wyndham then charged him with unlawful damage, claiming the police car was rammed first, which the commission found was a lie and which was repeated in official witness statements from the senior constable and another officer in the car, Constable Alex Miatke.
The commission formed an opinion of serious misconduct by Wyndham, and an opinion of police misconduct by Miatke, and recommended WA Police consider prosecuting Wyndham, who has since resigned from the force.
Wyndham was central to the police shooting of 29-year-old Yamatji woman JC when he was a first class constable in 2019.
JC, who had schizophrenia, was fatally shot by Wyndham after she was found walking along a street with a knife and a pair of scissors.
He was charged with murder over the shooting, and a jury acquitted him in 2021.
Wyndham defended his actions during an inquest into the shooting held last year, and said he was guided by “instinct” during the shooting.
However, the inquest also heard an internal police review board found Wyndham failed four times to follow WA Police policy that day.
The CCC report tabled on Friday detailed the chase on May 20, 2024, when the officers were searching for a silver Holden Commodore that had previously evaded police in bushland.
A car matching the description was spotted in the carpark of a softball centre, where the driver told the commission he was waiting to buy a “half-weight” of meth, and he started to drive off as he saw the police car approach.
The police car, a Skoda, made contact with the Commodore as the officers moved to arrest the driver while moving through the car park at “low speed”, the report said, which was not enough to disable it, and it took off up the road, crossing to the wrong side before driving around the bend to a nearby street.
The Skoda was damaged, but instead of stopping and waiting for an independent sergeant to attend – as required by WA Police driving policy – Wyndham did a U-turn and set off after the Commodore, activating lights and sirens.
Wyndham and Miatke, with a third officer in the rear, rapidly caught up with the Commodore, the report said, and performed the PIT manoeuvre, bringing the short chase to an end.
The driver, when arrested, was cooperative but denied ramming the Skoda.
The commission found Wyndham could only be justified in ramming the Commodore if it was a case of aggravated vehicle aggression, which it was not.
It also found Wyndham’s actions in performing the technique on the nearby street could not be justified by claiming it was an aggravated vehicle aggression incident, and found the senior constable had lied and said there was a person – at one point claimed to be a child on a scooter – on the street, when there was not.
The third officer, Constable Kasey Hodge, who was in the back, “consistently denied the presence of civilians” on the street at the time of the intercept manoeuvre.
Back at Geraldton Police Station, Wyndham prepared a prosecution notice which the commission said was “not subject to proper scrutiny” by his supervisors, and both Wyndham and Miatke prepared official documents to support their false version of events.
The case came before the prosecution services division as a contentious prosecution review, and the unlawful damage charge against the driver was dropped, but he pleaded guilty to several other offences.
“The seriousness of S/C Wyndham’s conduct cannot be overstated,” the CCC report said.
“What started as a breach of police emergency driving policy after a [police accident] became a serious attempt to mislead a court on a charge of unlawful damage.”
Miatke was also criticised by the commission for a police interview with the driver which “broke all the rules”.
Responding to Friday’s CCC report, WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the force took findings or opinions of misconduct very seriously.
“In particular, I note the recommendations of further action against the two officers, including the senior constable who has resigned from the WA Police Force,” he said.
“I will need to fully consider these recommendations before making any further statements. Consideration will also be given to the other concerns raised in the report.”
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