Bernadette Clarke is haunted by the last 16 seconds of her sister JC's life.
Ngarlawangga Yamatji Martu woman JC was having a mental health schizophrenic episode while holding a knife on a street in Geraldton in 2019.
Onlookers called triple zero and police soon arrived.
After a standoff Constable Brent Wyndham, one of eight officers on the scene, shot and killed the 29-year-old mother seconds after getting out of his car.
“16 seconds," Ms Clarke told NITV.
"That 16 seconds still plays on my mind.
"That 16 seconds is the most heartbreaking part, the lack of communication and nobody spoke of him to pull up."
In 2021 Constable Wyndham became the first Western Australian police officer charged with murder in the line of duty in almost a century, but was found not guilty of murder or manslaughter, leading to a national outcry and protests around the country.
The coronial inquest into the death of JC began on July 1, holding hearings in Perth and Geraldton, four hours north.
Geraldton community rallies for JC. Source: Supplied / Photo taken by Jesse Pickett
Officer Wyndham was set to give evidence in Geraldton but appeared in Perth instead, in fear of sparking protests after JC’s foster mother Anne Jones was injured by a police officer.
At approximately 6.30am on Friday, July 5, police responded to multiple reports of a disturbance and persons armed with weapons.
Police attended and arrested an 18-year-old man.
While officers were attempting to place the man in the police vehicle, 62-year-old Anne Jones was knocked to the ground.
Ms Jones says she fell on to the road and hurt her head after being pushed by a police officer and she is still suffering from pain from the incident.
Anne Jones, JC's foster mother, was injured after being knocked to the ground by police. Source: NITV / Photo taken by Kearyn Cox
“He did it without even speaking to me ...
"All he did was put his hand out and over I went.”
Superintendent Steve Post, Mid-West Gascoyne District, said he had seen video of the incident, which is under investigation.
“I’m disappointed by what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard, but I preface there is an investigation that will get to the bottom of this and will determine the appropriate action," he said.
"We are taking this incident very seriously."
On the final day of the inquest in Perth, Yamatji academic Dr Charmaine Papertalk Green said cultural training for police was totally inadequate and that mental health practitioners should have been called.
Ms Jones agrees with Dr Green and says people suffering like JC need mental health help instead of police intervention.
“They should get somebody who is in mental [health] to go by themselves first or with the police and have the police on standby," she said.
“Somebody at their level to know what they are going through and they know they are comfortable with them.
"There is a lot of people in Geraldton that they can call but they don’t do it.”
Bernadette Clarke speaking about her sister JC. Source: NITV / Photo taken by Kearyn Cox
“From the start she wanted me to have some answers and I finally got these answers of how she ended up with all these disorders," she said.
"To sit there and listen to so many witnesses and evidence, it’s just mind boggling how much that poor little girl needed help.”
The circumstances of her sister’s passing still haunt Ms Clarke.
"[Constable Wyndham] should have pulled up," she said.
“They let her down, they failed her.
"If she had a mental disorder, they should have helped her, she needed help.
“All I want is not for anyone else to go through what we are going through.”
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