Police ‘at fault’ in student’s death
UNIVERSITY student Charlie Robertson might not be dead if one of seven police officers who raided his home had told paramedics already at the address to check on him.
Police who went to the 19year-old’s Miami apartment looking for someone else could now be subject to criminal charges after the State Coroner found Robertson’s death was preventable.
Handing down his findings in the Southport Court yesterday, Coroner Terry Ryan referred the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Robertson died in his Miami apartment on June 13, 2015 from an overdose of a mixture of drugs including fantasy.
An inquest held in March was told seven Rapid Action Patrol police officers raided the unit looking for one of the student’s flatmates.
During the search they made a number of attempts to wake Robertson but were unsuccessful.
Police left Robertson in his pyjamas in bed, before leaving the apartment without calling triple-0.
Officers were heard laughing while they lifted the mattress, the inquest heard.
The officers told the inquest they believed Robertson was “drunk” and left without alerting paramedics, who were already at the premises treating another man – who had jumped from a balcony – for two broken ankles.
Robertson was found dead several hours later.
In his findings, Mr Ryan said: “Although the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) had been called to the premises to attend to another male from Charlie’s unit who injured his ankles after jumping over the balcony when police arrived, QAS officers were not asked to check on Charlie’s wellbeing.”
Mr Ryan found the actions of the officers when they checked Robertson in his bed were “inadequate” and that they were more focused on conducting a raid at the property than the medical welfare of the 19-year-old.
“The attending police officers acted inadequately ... with respect to his (Robertson’s) presentation that morning,” he said. “Lifting the mattress was inappropriate and showed no respect for Charlie.
THE ATTENDING POLICE OFFICERS ACTED INADEQUATELY ... WITH RESPECT TO HIS (ROBERTSON’S) PRESENTATION. CORONER TERRY RYAN
“The sound of laughing when he fell to the ground reflects very poorly.”
At the time, frontline officers were not trained in recognising signs of drug overdose. The inquest was told police were now trained in recognising indicia; signs of overdose.
Mr Ryan found the seven officers who were at the unit that evening “genuinely believed” they did not need to seek medical assistance.
The inquest was told if Robertson had received medical treatment his chance of surviving would have been “so close to 100 per cent”.
The coroner made no findings in respect to further police training to prevent a similar death in the future, saying he was satisfied the QPS had addressed the training deficit.