Inquest into the Death of Hayden Paul STACEY
Deceased
Hayden Paul STACEY
Demographics
22y, male
Date of death
2018-05-27
Finding date
2020-08-18
Cause of death
gunshot injury to the chest
AI-generated summary
Hayden Paul Stacey, 22, died from a gunshot wound to the chest inflicted by police constable Lucinda Boon during a mental health crisis incident on 27 May 2018 at Peel Health Campus, Western Australia. Stacey had called emergency services reporting an armed man (himself) behaving strangely, then armed himself with a large kitchen knife and refused to disarm despite repeated police orders. Three Taser deployments failed, likely due to baggy clothing preventing probe contact. Stacey advanced toward Officer Boon with the knife after being warned of lethal force. The coroner found Officer Boon's use of force lawful and reasonable under self-defence provisions. Key clinical lessons: recognition of mental health crisis (likely drug-induced psychosis), the limitations of current Taser technology with heavy clothing, and the importance of backup support in high-risk situations.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- mental health crisis with disordered thinking
- probable drug-induced psychosis
- alcohol and cannabis intoxication
- armed with large kitchen knife
- refusal to disarm despite repeated orders
- three unsuccessful Taser deployments due to clothing barrier
- advancing toward officer in threatening manner
- decline of backup support by Police Operations Centre
- officer's reasonable belief of imminent threat to life
Coroner's recommendations
- The Police should take all necessary steps to introduce a new Taser system which has a greater capacity to cause neuromuscular incapacitation, and is more likely to do so.
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