Australia: Cops storm into house and shoot man defending his family

All on mere suspicion. Cops now have some remarkable "memory" failures about the whole thing

MEMBERS of a special operations group involved in a dawn raid in which a man was killed had expressed misgivings about the forced entry plan, a lawyer for the dead man's family told a court yesterday. Mohamed Chaouk, 30, died after being shot in the neck and abdomen by an SOG officer during a raid on his family home in Brooklyn on April 5, 2005. Melbourne Coroner's Court heard Mr Chaouk was shot after he swung a samurai sword at the officer, injuring the man's left wrist.

Yesterday lawyer Michael Rafter, representing the Chaouk family, told an inquest he had been given information that police involved had "misgivings in relation to the form of actual entry" to the house. Mr Rafter's comments came as he was cross-examining another member of the SOG team who conducted the raid.

The SOG officer, who gave evidence via video and was referred to as operator 28, said he was not aware of any misgivings. "Did you hear any operative expressing some resentment . . . that they could be overruled by (operation commander) Inspector Noonan?" Mr Rafter asked. Operator 28 replied he had not.

Earlier, the inquest into Mr Chaouk's death heard the raid, involving 15 SOG officers, came after a six-month organised crime squad investigation into the criminal activities of the Chaouk family. The court heard police chose the option of forced entry because it had the least associated risks, but it had still been classified as medium to high-risk because of the Chaouk family's history of violence and use of firearms.

Yesterday operator 28 told the court his team had been briefed that the raid suspects were Macchour, Fatma, Walid, Mohammed, Ali and Matwali Chaouk. Operator 28 told the court the team was aware others may be present in the house in addition to the suspects. "Were you told two women were on the premises, one of whom was approximately eight months pregnant?" Mr Rafter asked. Operator 28 said he didn't recall. "Were you told there was a child likely to be on the premises?" Mr Rafter asked. Operator 28 said he didn't recall.

The inquest on Mohamed Chaouk is to continue today before coroner Paresa Spanos.

Report here



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