WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this story contains the name and image of a deceased person.
JOLTED awake by police rattling the front door of a squat at Wickham, career criminal Warren Simon initially seemed calm and compliant as he was told he was under arrest for breaking into a house and stealing a car at Cooks Hill the night before.
But in a flash, his demeanour changes as he pulls a large kitchen knife from his waistband and slashes at a male constable, stabbing him under the arm before charging out the front door.
Mr Simon, 38, sprints into the street, a female constable chasing right behind, and turns into an alcove where he is immediately met with a dead end.
Cornered, he instantly turns and advances on the female constable, the knife raised and swinging at her face as she screams and falls backwards.
Mr Simon is directly above her and holding the blade when the male constable who had been stabbed appears and fires three shots from his police firearm, knocking him to the ground.
Those 10 seconds, captured on the police body worn camera of the female constable and played on the first day of a coronial inquest into Mr Simon's death in Newcastle on Tuesday, demonstrated just how quickly a situation like a routine call about a break-in can become a volatile and deadly situation.
Mr Simon, who had battled issues with mental health and drug addiction and had spent much of his adult life behind bars for break-ins, home invasions and robberies, died in an ambulance about half an hour after police arrived in Bishopsgate Street to investigate a break-in on the morning of April 7, 2023.
Counsel assisting Tracey Stevens delivered an opening address on Tuesday, outlining Mr Simon's troubled background, some of his criminal history and the lead-up to the police shooting.
Ms Stevens said Mr Simon broke into a home at Cooks Hill on the night of April 6 and stole a television, laptop, a pair of AirPods and a Toyota HiLux.
The next day the victims of the break-in were able to track the AirPods to a townhouse in Bishopsgate Street and found their stolen car parked in the street. They also looked in through a front window and saw their TV with Mr Simon sleeping on the floor nearby.
They called police, who arrived and rattled the front door to get Mr Simon to wake up.
Told by a female constable that he is under arrest and was going to be put into the police caged truck, Mr Simon seems cooperative and says "I'll just get the rest of my stuff" as he turns and walks back into the Bishopsgate Street townhouse.
But after reaching into his waistband, Mr Simon suddenly spins around and lunges at the male constable with the large knife, stabbing him and then fleeing out the door.
From there he attempts to flee, is immediately trapped and then lunges at the female police officer before he is shot three times in the chest.
Distressed and overwhelmed, the two constables put a call over the radio to get ambulances and police cars there.
"I've been stabbed," the male constable says as the pair console each other.
"You did the right thing," the female constable tells her colleague. "You were completely justified. Completely."
The pair are expected to give evidence during the inquest on Wednesday.
