A Northern Territory Police sergeant has rejected suggestions he attempted to provide Constable Zachary Rolfe with a legal defence to the 2019 shooting of Warlpiri-Luritja man Kumanjayi Walker.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains an image of a person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
It also contains strong language which some readers may find offensive.
Sergeant Ian Nankivell was called to give evidence to the long-running inquiry into Mr Walker's death, answering questions about a text message he sent to a colleague of Constable Zachary Rolfe's the morning after.
The court heard he sent the message to Constable Mitchell Hansen, who then forwarded it to Constable Rolfe, with the comment: "Ian Nankivell sent me this to send to you. He was involved in shooting someone in vicpol [Victoria Police] so he said to send this through."
Sergeant Nankivell told the court he did not intend for the message to be sent to Constable Rolfe.
"I know the message was to Hansen as a private message," Sergeant Nankivell said.
"Once it was sent to him it was out of my hands. I had no intention to send to Rolfe. I deny that emphatically."
Constable Zachary Rolfe was found not guilty of all charges related to the shooting death of Mr Walker at a Supreme Court trial last year.
Jurors heard the officer acted in self-defence when he fired his pistol three times, after Mr Walker stabbed him in the shoulder with a pair of scissors.
In the message, Sergeant Nankivell referred to the deceased man, Kumanjayi Walker, as a "shit c**t"; a comment he apologised for and conceded was a "horrible thing to say".
He also outlined an acronym, which the court heard was used by police officers as a guide for the justification of the use of force – IAMO + P, and allegedly offered suggestions.
The court heard the message read:
The member has to answer his critics with IAMO +P.
I= Intent … the shit c**t was telling them he was going to stab the police ...
A= ABILITY … He had the ability to do so because he both said it and was a young fit male who (looking at Rolfe) would have had size disparity.
M= Means. He had an edged weapon and told the police he (more than like said) was going kill them.
O= OPPORTUNITY. The members let him get close enough to be afforded the opportunity to stab one of them and coupled with all of the above …
IAMO +P = PRECLUSION
"I was precluded from all other options available to me, (being distance, time, cover, taser, baton, spray, etc) so I had no other option but to protect myself and those with me by shooting the offender to gain immediate subject control and incapacitation …
That what I did (taught by some very experienced old members in 1994)
Never forget it … IAMO +P
Sergeant Nankivell told the court that when he sent the message to Mitchell Hansen, he believed the Constable had been on the ground in Yuendumu at the time of the shooting and the message was sent out of concern for his mental health.
"You described [Kumanjayi Walker] as a 'shit c**t'?" Counsel Assisting the Coroner, Patrick Coleridge asked.
"That's correct."
"Okay. You were denigrating a young man who, for all you knew, Mitchell Hansen had watched die?"
"Yes."
"How on earth was that meant to support Mitchell Hansen's mental health?"
"There's no excuse for that, the wording, there's no excuse at all."
Sergeant Nankivell told the coroner there had likely been other messages sent between himself and Constable Hansen, in which he made more obvious reference to mental health concerns.
"There could have been other things. I can't recall. It's three years ago and I don't have a copy of any of the messages," Sergeant Nankivell said.
The coroner has heard Constable Hansen was not one of the police officers in Yuendumu at the time Kumanjayi Walker died.
Mr Coleridge suggested the message was a suggestion of how Constable Rolfe might attempt to justify his use of force in shooting Kumanjayi Walker.
"I can see that that's how it looks. In hindsight, I can see how it looks, but that was not the intention of sending that message," Sergeant Nankivell said.
"This is an extract of the horrible stuff about a text message that I sent in private … it was about peer support. It was about me trying to tell him that I would support him with whatever happened. I didn't know what happened, but that's what it was about."
Sergeant Nankivell also rejected suggestions from barrister Julian McMahon SC, for the Parumpurru Committee, that he showed racist attitudes.
"That's far from the truth. I spent two years in Port Keats looking after the folk out there. I actually applied for the sergeant job at Yuendumu before Julie Frost got it and I missed out because I was held to tenure," Sergeant Nankivell said.
"There's no excuse for talking about anybody in that manner. I wanted to go there to help the people but Julie Frost beat me to the punch. And that's God's honest truth, your Honour."
Trauma for police officers acknowledged
Sergeant Nankivell was visibly emotional in the witness box, telling the court he had not paid any attention to the inquest, which has been running since September 2022, as it brought back "horrible memories" of a police shooting he had been involved in in 1994.
He told the inquest he became a peer supporter at work, to help others with the trauma police officers were confronted with on the job.
"As soon as I heard about [the shooting], it brought a flood of memories back. I was in a world of hurt myself," Sgt Nankivell said.
Coroner Elisabeth Armitage told the witness she would also look at the trauma police officers were exposed to in the course of their duties.
"Hopefully there are some positive changes occurring within the police services around Australia to better acknowledge the trauma that police suffer from; to have better services to address that trauma," Judge Armitage said.
"Unfortunately, when we have to examine details of events like this, it can be re-traumatising, and that's something that we have to be careful with as well."
Deputy Police Commissioner Murray Smalpage also returned to the stand on Thursday, but a power outage at the Alice Springs Local Court meant he could not finish his evidence.
Deputy Commissioner Smalpage will continue answering questions when the inquest continues on Friday.
