A senior detective has told an inquest examining the drowning death of Gordon Copeland he believed he had done his “absolute best” to locate the missing 22-year-old but he didn’t have all the relevant information.
On Wednesday the inquest was told Copeland’s family waited for hours in the Moree police station trying to get further information about his whereabouts only to be told the investigation was “completed”.
Copeland drowned in the Gwydir River in the early hours of 10 July 2021. The inquest has heard the Gomeroi man entered the water after police followed the vehicle he was in – mistakenly thinking it was stolen.
Police officially called off the search after three days but his body was not found until authorities resumed the search three months later after sustained community pressure. His family had not stopped looking for him.
Counsel assisting the coroner, Peggy Dwyer, read a statement from Lesley Fernando, an aunt of Copeland’s, in which she described waiting for hours only to be told a day after the disappearance that the investigation was finalised.
Det Sen Const Brad Beddoes had told Fernando it was completed, the inquest heard.
“You told her something like: ‘Sorry to tell you this but I’m satisfied from my investigation yesterday that there were only two people in the car’,” Dwyer said when questioning Beddoes on Wednesday.
But the detective said he would not have worded it that way. “I don’t know what I said but it would have been something like: ‘The information I had yesterday was there were only two people in the car and I was satisfied with that information’,” Beddoes said.
The inquest has previously heard that officers called off the initial search after believing there were only two people in the car and both were safe – when in fact there had been three people in the vehicle.
Jabour Clarke told the inquest he did not tell authorities or his family Copeland was in the car with him and his girlfriend because “I was scared I was gonna get locked up”.
“I can assure you that on this day, I did everything I could to try and locate who was in that river,” Beddoes said on Wednesday. “Clearly now, it wasn’t good enough and I’m sorry, but I’ve done my absolute best and I’m sorry for your loss.”
He told the inquest he had made inquiries with those in the car, and the car’s owner, to try to explain the police were not investigating anyone in relation to potential criminal charges but wanted to make sure everyone was safe and accounted for.
Beddoes said he was “very cranky” at officers who had not told him Copeland’s family had been in the station foyer for several hours and had made repeated attempts to try to find out what had happened to him.
Beddoes told the inquest it was about 8am when he was told Copeland’s family had been waiting since at least 2am for further information.
“I’d been at work for an hour before I found out that information was broken,” he said. “Because they’re clearly waiting for me. But nobody told me that they were there. I was extremely cranky.”
Dwyer said Fernando’s statement made clear she felt “angered and frustrated and in despair”.
“Do you think looking back on it, you accept that Lesley’s setting out there is her genuine perception?” Dwyer asked. “Yes,” Beddoes replied.
Beddoes said he thought he was acting “compassionately” to the family under difficult circumstances. “I sincerely thought I was being … the best I could be to that family.”
The inquest hearings are expected to finish this week with Copeland’s family, including Fernando, expected to give evidence in the coming days.
