A 32-year-old Tasmanian policeman who took his own life in 2016 has been described as "gentle, kind and popular" with a "deep love for animals and his family" — and whose struggles with depression weren't "a secret".
WARNING: This story touches on themes of suicide, depression and substance abuse; reader discretion is advised
Constable Paul Hunt is one of four policemen whose death is being investigated as part of a coronial inquest in the Launceston Magistrates Court.
The deaths of Senior Sergeant Paul Reynolds, Constable Simon Darke and Sergeant Robert Cooke will also form part of the inquest.
All four men took their own lives in the period between 2016 and 2020.
Council assisting the coroner, Cameron Lee, said the inquest will look at the circumstances surrounding the deaths, the policy and procedures of Tasmania Police and the nature of welfare and fatigue management.
"The life of a police officer is a very dangerous one, they're often exposed to dangerous and traumatic events," he said.
"It's very much the luck of the draw, one cannot unsee what they have seen."
Constable Hunt was found dead on the July 8, 2016 at his father's property at Mount Direction, near Launceston.
His father, Matthew Hunt gave evidence during the inquest and told the court his son battled for years with anxiety and depression and was in and out of hospital.
He told the court he first noticed signs of his son's depression when he was visiting him for Christmas one year while Paul was working as a policeman on King Island, off Tasmania's north-west coast.
"I believe he was first diagnosed there," he said.
"We went over there quite regularly to visit … he met his wife Jess there."
Questioned over drug purchases
The court heard on the day Constable Hunt died he was called in for an unannounced meeting with officers from the Professional Standards Command.
The meeting was regarding allegations he had been using his Tasmania Police badge and fake driver's licence numbers for several years to obtain codeine-based and pseudoephedrine-based medications from a number of pharmacies in Hobart.
In early 2014, the court heard he was identified through Project STOP, which is a tool pharmacists use to track purchases, as being in the top four purchasers in Tasmania between January and August.
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia said the tool is aimed at preventing the use of pseudoephedrine-based products to manufacture methamphetamine.
He was spoken to by senior police following this — and was flagged again the following September.
On 13 November 2015, he was interviewed by Professional Standards about the allegations.
On the day he died, his work station and locker were also searched and his personal phone was confiscated. He was also officially stood down from his role.
He then withdrew $600 from his joint bank account with his wife and took a taxi to Launceston, and then another taxi to his father's property in Mount Direction.
His father Matthew Hunt was travelling at the time and wasn't home.
Constable Hunt then sent his wife a message on Facebook on his dad's computer saying goodbye.
"Paul had always wanted to be a policeman, and he had depression, it wasn't a secret," Matthew Hunt told the court.
He said his son's wife or another person who could have offered support should have been included at the meeting with his police superiors.
"It was a pretty significant event for him," Mr Hunt said.
The inquest also heard in the days after his death, Matthew Hunt was told by a Tasmania Police officer that "it wasn't a compensable issue" which he said he felt was a strange thing to say.
"I checked with other family members afterwards that I had heard that correctly and they said yes," he said.
"It was very strange … this was before the funeral."
When asked if other members of Tasmania Police visited him afterwards, he said three had.
The inquest is continuing.
