Coronial
TASother

Coroner's Finding: Hunt, Paul George; Reynolds, Paul James; Darke, Simon Graham; Cooke, Robert Anthony

Deceased

Paul George Hunt, Paul James Reynolds, Simon Graham Darke, Robert Anthony Cooke

Demographics

male

Date of death

2016-07-08, 2018-09-13, 2019-02-06, 2020-10-13

Finding date

2023-09-01

Cause of death

Hunt: self-inflicted gunshot wound to head; Reynolds: self-inflicted gunshot wound to head; Darke: self-inflicted gunshot wound to head; Cooke: asphyxia due to hanging

AI-generated summary

This coronial finding examined four police suicides in Tasmania between 2016-2020. Constable Hunt died by gunshot wound after being stood down from duty without welfare support; his personal phone was unlawfully seized, preventing contact with support services. Senior Sergeant Reynolds died by gunshot after criminal investigation; his personal phone was also not replaced despite policy requirements. Constable Darke died by gunshot while on duty; his death appeared unrelated to policing. Sergeant Cooke died by hanging after years of untreated severe PTSD from cumulative trauma exposure. The coroner identified failures in welfare protocols, fatigue management policies, early PTSD detection, and the handling of officers during professional standards investigations. Key recommendations include developing fatigue management policy, ensuring welfare support presence during investigations, providing replacement phones when seized, implementing PTSD screening, and creating automated referral systems for officers exposed to traumatic incidents.

AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes. Report an inaccuracy.

Specialties

psychiatrypsychologyoccupational and environmental healthforensic medicine

Error types

systemcommunicationprocedural

Drugs involved

pseudoephedrinecodeinediazepamparacetamolpropoxypheneparoxetineibuprofenalcohol

Clinical conditions

post-traumatic stress disorderdepressionanxietyopioid addictionsubstance use disordersuicidal ideationfatigue from occupational stress

Procedures

professional standards investigationmental health assessmentpsychiatric treatmenttranscranial magnetic stimulationpsychological counselling

Contributing factors

  • absence of welfare support protocols at time of critical intervention for Hunt
  • unlawful seizure of personal mobile phone without replacement
  • professional standards investigation without adequate welfare support
  • chronic untreated PTSD for Cooke from cumulative trauma exposure
  • absence of fatigue management policy
  • failure to detect PTSD early
  • poor record-keeping and information sharing in welfare systems
  • relationship difficulties and family law issues
  • drug addiction and medication abuse
  • criminal investigation related stress and shame

Coroner's recommendations

  1. Immediately develop and implement a Fatigue Management Policy
  2. Amend all applicable documentation to ensure Wellbeing Support Officer and Police Association representative present at any Professional Standards interaction
  3. Commander Professional Standards to contact Director of Wellbeing Support and Secretary of Police Association of Tasmania and request representative availability without revealing subject officer identity
  4. Commander Professional Standards to arrange collection and transport of Wellbeing Support Officer and representative to place of search, meeting or interview
  5. Arrange support by audiovisual link, telephone or electronic means if geographical impediments exist
  6. Amend all relevant documentation to make clear replacement mobile telephone must be provided to any member who has personal mobile seized, with active SIM, charger and pre-programmed wellbeing support numbers
  7. Member provided replacement phone shall retain possession until their personal phone returned following forensic examination
  8. Professional Standards officers must carry replacement mobile telephone as standard equipment
  9. Investigate feasibility of introducing points system whereby critical incidents trigger automatic referral to psychologist when threshold reached
  10. Conduct mandatory six-monthly wellbeing screening of all operational police officers for PTSD
  11. Amend annual performance review document to record all mental health and wellbeing course attendance and participation
  12. Require police officers to electronically submit hours worked daily to enable real-time capture of data
  13. Investigate feasibility of developing online Wellbeing Snapshot Matrix for supervisors showing leave balances, TOIL balance and last periods taken
  14. Ensure all dealings with police officers subject to investigation be recorded in full by video
Full text
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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. Some material may have been redacted or restricted by court order or privacy requirements. 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 — report an inaccuracy here.