Police must pay for boy's death: mother

STEVE GRAY
July 12, 2010

The mother of a boy killed by a car as he lay handcuffed on a road wants the police who arrested him to feel the terror of her son's final moments.

Andrew John Bornen, 16, died on February 7, 2009 soon after he was arrested in the Ipswich suburb of Brassall.

Bornen was handcuffed and lying face down on a busy road when an oncoming car struck and killed him.

Outside a coronial inquest into her son's death, Helen Donaldson told reporters she wanted the officers to experience the terror her son endured.

"What I'd like to do ... is put them on a road in the same situation that Andrew was and have a car run straight up towards them," she said.

"I want them to feel what happened to Andrew - not actually get run over, but to be in that situation and be scared."

Ms Donaldson said the two officers who left her son handcuffed on the road had failed in their duty of care and must not escape punishment.

"They have made a mistake and they need to be punished for it."

Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said the incident was tragic for all involved, including the two officers.

"Police officers, they're human, they were doing their job," he said.

"They feel for everyone involved in this. They are doing it tough as well."

Earlier, inside the Ipswich Magistrates Court, two witnesses told the inquest the boy may have been drunk in the hours before his death.

Steven White and Timothy Machen said they'd had verbal exchanges with an unidentified male believed to be Bornen.

The male appeared to be drunk and was swaying and carrying a baseball bat.

"He seemed to be drunk and disorderly. He seemed to have a baseball bat in one hand and a can in the other," Mr Machen told the court.

The witnesses said the man was not behaving aggressively.

During evidence on Monday afternoon, the inquest heard Queensland police had no guidelines to prevent a person being handcuffed face down on a road way.

Inspector Peter Stacey of police ethical standards command told the inquest the two arresting police officers were confronted by Bornen who was armed with a baseball bat.

Bornen was told to lie on the roadway where he was handcuffed.

"There is no specific policy about restraining or handcuffing people on a roadway," he said.

Inspector Stacey said police could not have foreseen the bad visibility on that section of Albion Street.

Bornen was killed when a car estimated to be travelling at 55km/h ran over him.

"It was surprising that the visibility was so bad," Inspector Stacey said.

A video simulation played to state coroner Michael Barnes showed the police officers and Bornen were obscured by poor street lighting and the headlights of the police patrol car.

The inquest continues through this week.

From: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/police-must-pay-for-boys-death-mother-20100712-10717.html