THE family of a mentally ill young man fatally shot by a policeman in a country NSW shopping strip has called for criminal proceedings to be launched against the officer.
Five years after Elijah Holcombe, 24, was shot in the middle of an Armidale shopping zone, a long-running inquest into his death has concluded he died as a result of a police officer's actions.
NSW coroner Mary Jerram said Senior Constable Andrew Rich should never have pursued the 24-year-old student on June 2, 2009.
Mr Holcombe, who suffered from delusional paranoia, had voluntarily attended Armidale Hospital that morning but checked himself out.
The plain-clothes officer had been sent to find the Holcombe family car, which Mr Holcombe had taken.
But when Sen Const Rich approached the student, he turned and fled, running through a cafe and grabbing a serrated bread knife.
Sen Const Rich followed him into a laneway and shot Mr Holcombe in the chest.
The police officer said he thought the young man was a risk to himself and others.
However, no one described feeling threatened by, or frightened, of him.
Witnesses said the knife Mr Holcombe was carrying was "dangling from his hand, never raised or pointed".
Outside court on Thursday, Mr Holcombe's father Jeremy said Sen Const Rich should take responsibility for his son's death.
"Very bad things can happen to good people," he said.
"The allegation that Elijah had to be destroyed in order to protect the safety of another person has never been accepted by those who knew him best.
"We respectfully ask the Director of Public Prosecutions to reconsider this matter for criminal proceedings."
The coroner said Sen Const Rich's description of Mr Holcombe as "aggressive" was inconsistent with evidence from other officers who had been in contact with him.
"I do not accept that it was in fact how Elijah was," Ms Jerram said.
"Constable Rich had no basis for shooting, chasing or arresting Elijah.
"Even if he did say, 'shoot me, shoot me' - it was not an invitation."
In August last year, the DPP declined proceedings, saying the case for self-defence was too strong.
Their decision came 16 months after the coroner halted the inquest in 2010 and referred the case to them.
The Holcombes' legal representative Phillip Stewart said the family did not understand why the police officer had never been prosecuted.
"There is absolutely nothing in today's findings that condemns anything Elijah did," Mr Stewart said.
"The same cannot be said for Constable Rich."
The DPP declined to comment on the Holcombe family's request.
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