Lynn Cannon was murdered by her husband Paul Cannon at his home in December 2022, and a coronial inquest is investigating the police response on the night she died. On Wednesday the inquest heard from paramedic Shane John Toovey, who entered the home where she was attacked despite knowing her estranged husband was still inside. The deputy state coroner Sarah Linton told Mr Toovey that everyone connected with the case was "in awe" of him.
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00:00On day three of the inquest, Miss Cannon's family and friends had to hear the harrowing
00:07details of her final moments, grateful she had someone by her side.
00:12One of the hardest things for us throughout this whole ordeal was the thought that Lynn
00:18may have died alone.
00:19Shane Toovey, a St John paramedic, was the first emergency responder to arrive at the
00:24scene in Lansdale in December 2022.
00:27Fifty-one-year-old Lynn Cannon had been repeatedly stabbed by her former husband, Paul.
00:32Mr Toovey told the court he wrestled with the decision to enter the property alone,
00:36knowing an armed man could still be inside.
00:39He said he had his own family and wanted to go home to them.
00:43But after failing in attempts to contact police for backup, he went inside.
00:46We would like to see him nominated for a bravery award because what he did and how hard it
00:53must have been for him to know that she was just metres away.
00:58Mr Toovey attempted to provide aid but said he realised her injuries were too severe.
01:03The ambulance officer told the court he looked at Miss Cannon, brushed the hair out of her
01:08eyes, told her he was sorry and that she was safe now.
01:12She died four minutes before police arrived.
01:14That was more than an hour after Miss Cannon's sister had alerted police Paul had threatened
01:18to kill Lynn earlier that day.
01:21The court heard Mr Toovey was on scene without backup for 15 minutes.
01:25He reassured us that Lynn looked at him and he held her hand and spoke words of comfort
01:32to her and that's just, that has brought us so much comfort.
01:38The WA Police Force have since implemented several changes, including embedding a paramedic
01:43within its emergency call centre to ensure a similar incident doesn't happen again.
01:48Police are also ready to adopt any changes recommended as a result of the inquest.
01:52The coronial inquest process has changed policing for the better over many, many years because
01:58of the recommendations, because of these inquests.
02:00We always improve our processes and our systems to make our community safer and I've no doubt
02:07we will do it on this occasion as well.
02:09The inquest will resume in December.
02:18For more information visit www.fema.gov