An inquest for the Indigenous teen shot dead by a Northern Territory policeman has heard legal argument about officers giving evidence.

October 25, 2022

A Northern Territory inquest into the shooting death of an Indigenous teenager during a bungled arrest has addressed concerns that police officers’ evidence may expose them to disciplinary action.

Kumanjayi Walker, 19, died after Constable Zachary Rolfe shot him three times in Yuendumu, northwest of Alice Springs, on November 9, 2019.

The Alice Springs inquest into his death has heard testimony from multiple witnesses about the incident and the territory’s policing culture.

This has included counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer pressing several police officers over racism and the amount of force used on the job.

On Tuesday, lawyers for three officers, including Const Rolfe, raised concerns that some of the evidence sought and given had the potential to expose their clients to NT Police Force disciplinary action if the line of questioning continued.

Coroner Elisabeth Armitage briefly adjourned the court before granting an immunity certificate for Sergeant Paul Kirby, who is currently in the witness box.

Earlier, the inquest heard Const Rolfe described himself as violent and was taking medication that may have inhibited his ability to control his behaviour.

The admission about violence was made in a text message exchange with another officer about mental health weeks before the shooting.

In it, Const Rolfe also said he was “always down for a chat about our weird s***”.

“This is going to sound weird, wired bro, but in the nicest way, of course, glad someone thinks the way I do and I’m not going mad,” the other officer replied on October 14.

Const Rolfe then said: “Nah, I feel exactly the same, man. Cut from the same cloth”.

“I’ve only talked to you and (Constable Mark Sykes) about my head but even he doesn’t get violent like us.

“But you’re not mad. We’re just different than normal folk.”

The coroner also heard that in the same month Const Rolfe texted Const Sykes, a former army buddy before both men joined the NT police, and told him he had sought help over health concerns.

“He’d said to me that he wasn’t sleeping very well and he had gone to the doctor,” Const Sykes said.

“He seemed fine to me … There was no overt actions upon himself that made me think that there was something wrong.”

Const Rolfe also sent the officer a photo of an anti-depressant medication he was prescribed called Escitalopram.

Const Sykes said it was likely sent to him so he could inform health workers in the event Const Rolfe was injured and unable to communicate himself.

“He doesn’t live with anybody else or have a partner or anything like that and it was, I believe, in case something happens,” he said.

The inquest has heard Escitalopram was likely to have impacted on Const Rolfe’s “capacity for behavioural inhibition to threat” according to evidence from psychiatrist Alexander McFarlane.