A 21-year-old man died in custody last night less than three hours after being arrested South of Brisbane. He was due to appear in court today and had previously been jailed for running down a police officer causing debilitating injuries.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 In 2018, Riley O'Brien Faulkner was 16, out on bail and driving a stolen car when he ploughed
00:09 into Constable Peter Macaulay at speed.
00:13 The car swerved to miss road spikes, instead striking the officer, dragging him several
00:19 metres.
00:20 Macaulay was knocked unconscious and suffered fractures to his spine, jaw, cheek, right
00:26 arm and leg, requiring multiple surgeries.
00:29 Extensive facial trauma and trauma to my leg and arm and spine, so that's affected me physically
00:37 but in the mental space as well I've got to learn how to cope with new ways of doing things
00:43 and the pain.
00:44 O'Brien Faulkner, now 21, was arrested in Logan last night and taken into custody at
00:51 the Beanlea Watch House on a return to prison warrant.
00:55 He was due to front court here on several charges, including possessing dangerous drugs.
01:01 But around 7 last night, police say he suffered a medical episode and 40 minutes later he
01:07 was pronounced dead from a suspected drug overdose.
01:12 Police Union President Ian Leavers has released a statement saying, "The sad reality is that
01:17 if this youth criminal had received a proper prison sentence from the judiciary rather
01:22 than a slap on the wrist, he would still be alive today behind bars receiving the rehabilitation
01:29 he desperately needed."
01:31 Constable Macaulay says he had high hopes this youth criminal would change and genuinely
01:37 turn his life around and become a better person.
01:40 He says his life has changed forever, now all this offender has left behind is sorrow
01:47 and sadness.
01:48 The Queensland Police Ethical Standards Command is investigating the death on behalf of the
01:53 state coroner.
01:54 [BLANK_AUDIO]