Constable
Neil Francis CLINCH
YEAR OF DEATH
1987
JURISDICTION
Victoria
DETAILS OF DEATH
About 6 a.m. Saturday 4 April 1987 Constable Clinch was one of a group of police who went to a flat at 126 Lorne Street Fawkner to investigate a stabbing. Police surrounded the building and one of the party knocked at the front door. A man armed with a .22 calibre rifle then came out of a rear door and menaced a policewoman who fired two shots from her service revolver. At the same time Constable Clinch attempted to tackle the man and was struck in the head by one of the bullets. Clinch was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital where his condition was found to be inoperable. He died at 2.30 p.m Sunday 5 April 1987 having been in a coma since the shooting.
