Inquest into the death of Andrew Stark
Deceased
Andrew Stark
Demographics
48y, male
Date of death
2022-09-19
Finding date
2023-11-24
Cause of death
Multiple Injuries
AI-generated summary
Andrew Stark, a 48-year-old Aboriginal man, died in a single-vehicle motor accident while being pursued by police for an unregistered vehicle in Gunnedah, NSW. During a 3:22-minute pursuit, speeds reached 174 km/h in a 50 km zone with houses nearby. The coroner found Andrew's driving was normal until police attempted to stop him. Key clinical lessons include: police officers must weigh the seriousness of initiating offences (minor traffic violations warrant lower pursuit necessity), better information sharing improves risk assessment by supervisory staff, unknown driver factors (age, ability, impairment status, vehicle occupants) must explicitly factor into pursuit continuation decisions, and the pursuit policy requires clearer articulation that safety considerations apply to all road users including the fleeing driver. Statistics showed 1 in 8 pursuits end in collision, with nearly one-third of injuries affecting innocent bystanders. The coroner emphasised that pursuits should be a last resort with robust consideration of whether immediate apprehension is genuinely necessary.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Contributing factors
- decision to initiate police pursuit for minor traffic offence (unregistered vehicle)
- failure to adequately consider seriousness of initiating offence in pursuit decision-making
- incomplete communication of offence details to pursuit manager and supervisory staff
- inadequate assessment of risk to the fleeing driver
- unknown driver characteristics (identity, age, ability, sobriety status, vehicle occupants) not elevated in risk calculation
- high speeds (174 km/h in 50 km zone) in residential area with houses nearby
- wet road conditions and dip in road surface after recent flooding
- officers focused on their own driving capability rather than the fleeing driver's unknown abilities
- speculation about possible additional offences without concrete evidence
- malfunctioning onboard computer limiting officer communication during pursuit
Coroner's recommendations
- Amend NSWPF Safe Driving Policy paragraph 7-2-1 to replace 'community and police' with 'community, police and the offender'
- Insert new paragraph in SDP between 7-2-1 and 7-2-2 requiring consideration of: seriousness of initiating offence; whether to pursue a vehicle for road traffic offence without evidence of serious offence; whether serious risk to health and safety exists; and means available to apprehend offender later (e.g. form of demand, known address)
- Amend SDP paragraph 7-2-2 to include 'In weighing degree of risk to community, police and offender' at commencement and add uncertainties regarding offending driver's age, abilities, state of mind, roadworthiness and number of vehicle occupants as factor (iv)
- Amend SDP point 7-5-1(d) to replace 'reason for pursuit' with 'the offence for which police attempted to stop the vehicle, and any other reason for the pursuit'
- Update NSWPF training for pursuit-involved officers to: emphasise description of initial offence when providing reason for pursuit; reinforce fundamental importance of assessing need to immediately apprehend (with lower necessity for less serious/traffic offences); provide education on pursuit statistics including prevalence of drugs/alcohol impairment, age, cultural background, and other characteristics of pursuit-involved drivers; discourage assumptions about criminal intent based solely on failure to stop; and emphasise consideration of uncertainties regarding driver characteristics when assessing danger of initiating or continuing pursuit
- Conduct independent research through BOCSAR or appropriate government agency to understand reasons for significant increase in pursuits (90.8% increase since 2011) and propose measures to reduce pursuits, with report provided to Minister of Police, Attorney-General and made publicly available
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