WARNING: Contains content that may be distressing.
A police officer has used an expletive to describe Gomeroi man Gordon Copeland as he tried to apprehend him before he died in the Gwydir River last year.
Mr Copeland entered the river in the early hours of July 10, but he was not found until October 7. His family continued to search for him the whole time.
An inquest into his death has been shown video footage of Moree Constable Nick Murray after he said he followed footprints in the mud and saw Mr Copeland crouching in the bushes on the night.
He told the court he said something to the effect of “police don’t move”.
Mr Copeland disappeared into the bushes and then Constable Murray said he heard a thud and a “bit of a splash”.
He told the court he heard grunting or a similar painful noise with each step Mr Copeland took after that.
Constable Murray said he decided to go a different way to Mr Copeland because he got caught in barbed wire.
It’s at this stage Constable Murray switched on his body worn camera, which was played in court.
“There’s a mad cliff face isn’t it?" he’s heard saying.
“It sounds like he’s hurt himself pretty bad but ..lucky I’ve got my all terrains on.. I think he’s hurt himself whoever it is hey”.
Mr Copeland was found in the Gwydir River three months after he went missing. Source: NITV: Sascha Estons
When he reached the spot where he believed Mr Copeland jumped, he talked about the river conditions.
“This is where he’s jumped over here, he’s definitely gone with the current, whether he’s swum across,” he said.
“Fuck me he’s only young too. With all his clothes too hey”.
“I’m surprised he hasn’t f----n drowned,
The footage shows Nick Murray moving through dense foliage and he and his partner Kobe Russell both said they fell into the river briefly.
Constable Murray said he was expressing frustration when he was shown saying “Oh f--k this little c--t” after he fell.
Later, when he arrives back at his police car with other colleagues present, he is heard laughing.
“It’s not every day you go for a swim,” he said.
“Kobe had a swim too, unintentional one”.
Constable Nick Murray (centre) with colleagues outside Moree Police Station. Source: Narrabri Courier
Counsel Assisting Peggy Dwyer questioned Constable Murray’s decision making on the night and if he thought he seemed jovial when he got back to the car.
She also said asked him why he made a joke about falling in the water and he attributed it to his personality “I make jokes to cope”.
Counsel Assisting questioned whether Constable Murray showed a lack of critical thinking when he returned to the car with his colleagues, instead of really drilling down on what the danger was to the person who was there.
“I'm going to hypothetically say if I knew the incident occurred and I knew the outcome will be a different situation,” he said.
He admitted there was a lack of urgency when he conveyed the information back to his colleagues.
“I would make it 100 per cent more urgent to make things happen with the police force on locating the person.”
Constable Murray also expressed remorse about his use of the language.
“If I knew this was going to be this situation, I definitely would have been more sincere and wouldn't have said no those sorts of things in the body worn video,” he said.
And talked about his own difficulties in locating Mr Copeland.
“It’s very hard to find someone who doesn’t want to be found,” he said.
The inquest continues.
