A police officer mocked and challenged a mentally ill, knife-wielding man to a fight before other officers stormed his home and shot him dead after a nine-hour siege, an inquest has been told.
Todd McKenzie, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, was fatally shot at Taree on the NSW mid-north coast in 2019 when police were called to a property over concerns for his welfare.
Specialist officers spent nine hours negotiating with the 40-year-old, who was armed with a knife, before they forced open the door to try subduing him with a stun gun.
When this failed, they shot Mr McKenzie three times. He died at Manning Base Hospital.
One of the negotiators, known to the inquest as Fourth Person, said she never felt there was a threat from Mr McKenzie.
"He was not known to be violent in the past, he's always been co-operative with police, he's never been confrontational," she told a coroner on Thursday.
"He never made any direct threats at me, he never made threats that he would harm himself."
But a lawyer representing Mr McKenzie's father Mark told the Taree inquest a general duties officer pointed a gun at the 40-year-old and said "derogatory and confronting things" that may have impacted negotiators' ability to de-escalate the situation.
During the siege, Mr McKenzie told police his great-grandfather was an ANZAC soldier and that he'd inherited coins or medals from him.
The general duties officer did not believe Mr McKenzie and made fun of him for several hours calling him a "drain on the community" and challenging him to a fight.
"At the end of the day I'd much rather you come out here with your bloody knife and try (have a) go (at) us all. I'm getting f***ing sick of this," the officer said in bodycam footage.
"This entire scenario is your delusion Todd ... at the end of the day, basically everything you said was a lie.
"Oi Todd, give us a look at those fake medals of yours again."
One of the officer's comments provoked laughter from the surrounding police: "The British royal guard just called, they want their house back."
The primary negotiator, who was called to the scene hours later, said general duties officers are not qualified negotiators, noting that specialists are trained to go along with the schizophrenic delusions and not to challenge them.
However, he did not think the other officer's comments changed the situation.
"I don't know if he even heard it and if he did, I don't think he would have been able to take in what was being told," he told inquest in Taree.
"I don't think what the general duties officer said to him had any impact on my negotiations at all."
But Fourth Person agreed with the legal counsel that challenging someone to a fight would not have helped build the trust and rapport required to de-escalate a situation.
"I personally have never challenged anyone to a fight," she said.
The inquest will continue on Friday.
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