Deceased
Patrick Wayne Bloomfield (Kumanjayi Bloomfield)
Demographics
42y, male
Date of death
2019-07-25
Finding date
2021-04-01
Cause of death
Blunt force head and chest injuries caused by a traffic crash where he was the driver
AI-generated summary
Patrick Wayne Bloomfield, a 42-year-old Aboriginal man, died from blunt force head and chest injuries when his vehicle rolled on the Plenty Highway after police initiated a pursuit from a random breath testing (RBT) station. Police attempted to stop his vehicle when they suspected it was avoiding RBT by taking a bypass route. Police disengaged the pursuit after approximately 30 seconds when they realised the driver would not stop. The deceased continued driving for a further 5 kilometres, unaware police had disengaged, before rolling the vehicle at high speed. Blood alcohol was 0.28% and he was not wearing a seatbelt. The coroner found police actions were reasonable and disengagement was appropriately timed. Major issues concerned delayed investigation completion (18+ months), failure to facilitate family viewing of the body and scene, cultural protocol breaches, and insufficient communication with the Aboriginal family. The coroner recommended training to ensure timely viewings and transparency in police death investigations.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
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Source and disclaimer
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