A coronial investigation into the death of an Aboriginal man who drowned while evading arrest on South Australia’s west coast four years ago has rejected “any suggestion” that police unreasonably pursued him.
Key points:
- The 36-year-old victim swam into the ocean after being pursued by two police officers
- His body was found the next morning, and his drowning was treated as a death in custody
- The deputy coroner said police were right not to follow him into the water
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name of a person who has died.
Kunmanara Cooper, 36, was wanted for breaching bail and assault when Constable Ashley Reddaway and Senior Constable Mark Bentley tried to arrest him in Ceduna in January 2017.
When police began to chase him, he ran to the beach and then into the water, swimming about 300 metres offshore.
Police called for SES assistance when he disappeared, and a rescue boat was launched about 20 minutes after Mr Cooper had entered the water.
The search was called off after 9pm that night and Mr Cooper’s body was found by police the following morning.
Because police had been intent on arresting him, Mr Cooper’s drowning was treated as a death in custody.
In findings handed down today, Deputy State Coroner Anthony Schapel said it was not unreasonable for police to refrain from following Mr Cooper into the water, with both police officers involved citing safety concerns and earlier sightings of sharks in the area.
“I am also of the view that any suggestion that in attempting to arrest Kunmanara Cooper police unreasonably pursued him or forced or drove him into the sea to his death must be rejected.
“I do not believe that it would have been a realistic proposition for police to have desisted from their attempt to arrest Kunmanara Cooper.”
The deputy coroner wrote in his findings that both officers remained on shore and shouted for Mr Cooper to swim back.
“Kunmanara Cooper himself started to call out for help,” Mr Schapel said.
“Constable Reddaway yelled at him to swim to the shore but Kunmanara Cooper still appeared to be trying to swim further out.
In August last year, counsel for Mr Cooper’s family, Gerry Bowen, said it was strange that the deceased was so desperate to escape police when he had been in custody many times previously.
“Custody for this man was a way of life,” Mr Bowen said.
“Kunmanara Cooper must have had some apprehension about the police because he’s gone into the water.”
But Mr Schapel concluded that even if police had “desisted from their attempt” to arrest Mr Cooper when he was already in the water, he was unsure how that “could practicably have been achieved”.
“I doubt whether it would have altered Kunmanara Cooper’s behaviour in the water in any case,” he wrote.
