DETAILS OF DEATH

A police camp was located on the Finke river.  Its occupants were the police patrol party, whose duties were to visit the various stations, and to see that the wild natives did not interfere with the white settlers or their stock. The officer in charge has done this to the best of his ability, and as one of the results his camp was attacked by a mob of wild blacks from the westward on the 9th of January, 1890.

They managed to drive one long spear right through the body of one of the natives at the camp, named PETER, who was kept there to carry wood and water as required. His viscera protruded through the wound, and he died on the following afternoon. The spear was thrown into one of the wurleys with the intention of killing one of the active native constables.

DETAILS OF DEATH

Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester was appointed to the ACT Police in April 1972, being sworn in to the Australian Federal Police in 1979. On 10 January 1989 Assistant Commissioner Winchester became the most senior police officer to be killed in the line of duty. He was fatally wounded by a gunman near his home in Deakin, ACT. Assistant Commissioner Winchester was awarded the Australian Police Medal in 1987.

DETAILS OF DEATH

About 3.55am on the 10 January 1979 Constable Patrech was driving his private car home after completing his rostered shift at Ryde Police Station. The journey had taken a considerable time due to the vehicle having broken down a number of times during the journey. As the Constable was driving along Spinks Road Glossodia the vehicle veered off the roadway and collided with a stationary garbage compactor. Constable Patrech was killed instantly. The Constable was born in 1952 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 13 December 1976. At the time of his death he was stationed at Ryde.

DETAILS OF DEATH

On 9 January 1915 Trooper Harris together with Constable John Watson was outside the Imperial Hotel Cygnet coping with a large group of drunken young men. When Trooper Harris attempted to arrest a particularly troublesome young man who resisted and the constable was knocked to the footpath. He was then struck on the head with a full beer bottle while lying unconscious on the pavement. Constable Watson and a local man managed to carry Harris through the crowd and place him on a dray. Henry Harris died of his injuries the following day.

DETAILS OF DEATH

Constable Collins died at Golden Square on Tuesday 10 January 1911 from ‘ulceration of the bowels’. About four and a half years before his death he had been kicked in the stomach whilst attempting to arrest a man at Prahran. As a result of the injuries caused by the kick he was admitted to the Police Hospital where he remained for some time before eventually resuming duty. However he later began to suffer from internal pains and it was found that a growth had developed. This burst the day before his death and his doctors were unable to save him.