Johnkudrytch&melissacookfinding2422 08&2423 08
Deceased
Melissa Cook
Demographics
29y, female
Date of death
2008-12-16
Finding date
2011-04-20
Cause of death
gunshot wound to the abdomen
AI-generated summary
Melissa Cook (29) was shot by her estranged husband at her workplace (BP service station, Casula, NSW) on 16 December 2008. She was taken to Liverpool Hospital where she underwent emergency surgery and blood transfusions for a gunshot wound to the abdomen, but died at 19:40 hours that evening. The coroner's findings focus on systemic failures by NSW Police in responding to domestic violence. Despite Melissa reporting AVO breaches in November 2008, a critical 26-day delay occurred between the case being transferred from Macquarie Fields to Liverpool LAC (8 December) and her death (16 December). The matter remained unassessed in the Liverpool police work queue. Contributing police failures included unclear delegation of responsibilities between the Crime Coordinator and Domestic Violence Liaison Officers, absent officers not being covered, and inadequate risk assessment. The coroner found police failed to provide needed protection.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Clinical conditions
Procedures
Contributing factors
- Intimate partner violence and threats from estranged husband
- Penetrating abdominal trauma from shotgun wound
- Police failure to protect victim despite known threats
- Systemic failure in domestic violence response procedures
- Delay in police investigation of AVO breaches
- Unclear delegation of responsibilities at Liverpool police LAC
Coroner's recommendations
- Introduce automatic 'out of office' response in COPS when directions are sent to absent police officers, or establish procedures to ensure coverage by another officer during absences
Full text
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Source and disclaimer
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