Shepherd, Craig Robert
Deceased
Craig Robert Shepherd
Demographics
26y, male
Date of death
2006-06-16
Finding date
2008-12-12
Cause of death
Head injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash during a police pursuit
AI-generated summary
Craig Shepherd, 26, died from head injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash during a police pursuit on 16 June 2006 in Queensland. He was riding at excessive speed on Beechmont Road when he lost control at a tight bend. The coroner found that pursuing officers breached Queensland Police Service pursuit policy in multiple respects: they failed to notify police communications that a pursuit was underway, did not conduct proper ongoing risk assessment, and continued the pursuit onto a narrow, winding mountain road where the risks clearly outweighed any law enforcement benefit. The coroner criticized the officers' judgment and found they deliberately withheld information about mobile phone communications from investigators. Key lessons include the critical importance of notifying dispatch of pursuits to enable proper oversight, the necessity of abandoning pursuits when environmental risks escalate dramatically, and the need for rigorous risk-benefit assessment rather than attempting to identify a vehicle.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Contributing factors
- Failure of pursuing officers to notify police communications of pursuit commencement
- Inadequate ongoing risk assessment by pursuing officers
- Continuation of pursuit onto narrow, winding, unlit mountain road with rock faces and sheer drop-offs
- Excessive speed on dangerous road
- Rider unfamiliar with motorcycle handling characteristics
- Modified helmet lacking proper protective foam layer
- Failure to abandon pursuit despite escalating environmental risks
- Defective radio communication equipment in pursuit vehicle
- Officers' use of mobile phones to coordinate pursuit outside of official channels rather than notifying dispatch
Coroner's recommendations
- Policy review to be conducted after all seven pursuit-related deaths inquests from June 2005 to December 2006 are concluded before making specific recommendations
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