Witnesses to carnage
Final moments before fatal stolen car crash revealed
THE final seconds before a crash which killed four Townsville teens in a stolen car going more than 40km/h over the speed limit has been revealed on day one of the inquest into their tragic deaths.
Teenagers Aaliyah Kiri Kowhi Te Paa, 17, Rayvenna Tyrone Coolwell, 15, Lucius Hure-hill – now known as Barefoot – 13, and Cayenne Muriel Robertson, 14, were thrown from a stolen Kia at about 4.30am on June 7, 2020.
The 14-year-old driver, who cannot be named, survived and was later sentenced to five years behind bars in October 2021.
The inquest heard that at the moment of impact between the Kia and a traffic light on Duckworth St, the car carrying the fiveteenagers had been travelling at 111km/h in a 70km/h zone.
Five police officers gave evidence on the first day of the inquest into their deaths including Detective Sergeant Donna Green, Senior Constable David Forest, Senior Constable Clayton Sharp, Senior Constable Thomas Mcculloch, and Senior Constable Hayley Garrod.
Barefoot’s heartbroken grandmother, Sanaa Liddle, gave a brief yet emotional statement to Coroner Terry Ryan as the proceedingsbegan.
“This is for you, Barefoot, you are way more than the sum of the mistakes you have made,” Ms Liddle said.
The final seconds leading up to the horrendous fatality was aired in evidence given by Senior Constable Hayley Garrod of the Townsville Forensic Crash Unit.
She told the inquest that five seconds before the crash, crash the car had been roaring along Duckworth St at 128km/h.
The cause of the impact, she said, had been excessive speed, the driver failing to negotiate a roundabout and oversteering – which caused the car to rotate and become airborne.
“It has impacted the traffic light pole, causing the roof and passenger side to peel away from the vehicle, and all four passengers to be ejected,” Senior Constable Garrod said.
The passenger side of the Kia sustained “extensive damage”.
It was also heard the driver had cannabis in his system.
“The roof was located behind the vehicle, so the vehicle and the entire passenger side were all torn backwards,” she said.
Paint scrapings from the Kia left on the pole were found as high as 2.1m up.
The inquest was told the injuries to the four deceased teenagers were so severe that they could not be identified at the scene.
Senior Constable Sharp, Senior Constable Forest and Senior Constable Mcculloch had been patrolling around Townsville in separate police vehicles on the day of the crash.
Each gave evidence that they had been told to look out for a white SUV with each officer telling the inquest they had seen a car matching that description on Cambridge St during their patrols.
It was heard none of the officers had activated their lights and sirens when they each saw the car, but had followed at differing distances as the Kia travelled towards
Duckworth St and Bayswater Rd. Senior Constable Sharp had been the first officer on the scene of the crash, and told the inquest of the “horrendous” scene he encountered.
“… it was horrendous, I observed an upside down white vehicle … there was lots of debris on the road,” he said.
He said he first thought the 14-year-old driver had been the only occupant in the car until his partner alerted him to thef our children behind the car.
Detective Sergeant Donna Green, who was involved in the investigation after the crash, said the three units that had followed the Kia had done so at about 20 to 32 seconds behind the Kia and had made “no attempt to intercept the vehicle or pursue the vehicle”.
She said there had been “no evidence” which indicated any of the officers had acted in misconduct, or breached any policies, nor had their actions amounted to a criminal offence.
A message on Aaliyah’s phone had said they were “being chased”, the inquest heard. Each of the officers told the inquest that while mock training scenarios involving death notifications to next of kin were completed at the police Academy — there was only a one-off online training module that addressed cultural sensitivity.
The inquest continues.