Deceased
Brandon Clark
Demographics
23y, male
Date of death
2022-01-22
Finding date
2023-06-16
Cause of death
In keeping with drowning
AI-generated summary
Brandon Clark, a 23-year-old Aboriginal man, died by drowning in the Manning River during a police foot pursuit on 22 January 2022. He was stopped while in a vehicle following drug intelligence, gave false identity details, and when police attempted to arrest him for breach of bail conditions, he fled. Brandon, significantly affected by methylamphetamine and cannabis, ran towards the river and entered the water despite having a known fear of water. Two police officers entered the dangerous water at night to attempt rescue but could not locate him. The coroner found police acted lawfully in stopping and arresting Brandon. Key learning points include: recognition that drug-affected individuals may make irrational decisions including entering dangerous water; consideration of alternative enforcement options under bail legislation; need for water rescue training and flotation equipment availability for police near large bodies of water; and careful risk assessment before directing personnel into dangerous rescue situations.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Procedures
44y · Female·Hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy complicating cardiac arrest in the setting of p…
Elizabeth Ferris, a 44-year-old woman with schizoaffective disorder and polysubstance use disorder, died from hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy following cardiac arrest in the setting of presumed drug toxicity. She was fo…
45y · Male·focal coronary artery disease and cardiomegaly
Stratos Ioannidis, age 45, died at Maroondah Hospital on 28 March 2025 from focal coronary artery disease and cardiomegaly during an involuntary psychiatric admission. He presented with acute psychosis from bipolar disor…
58y · Male·Gunshot injury to the abdomen
David Gray, 58, deliberately induced police to shoot him as a means of suicide following undisclosed mental health deterioration. On 22 September 2023, he called police anonymously reporting an armed person, then present…
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —