Overview

• A jury convicted Chown of manslaughter in May and Justice Joseph McGrath imposed a head sentence of 15 years and six months with parole eligibility after 13½ years, backdated for two years already served.
• Justice McGrath rejected Chown’s defence that a Taser deployment caused him to lose control and found that he deliberately reversed into Constable Anthony Woods during a high-speed chase.
• Medical evidence determined that Woods died days after the June 2023 incident from cardiac arrest triggered by mechanical compression of his chest and abdomen while trapped under the vehicle.
• Chown was also convicted of stealing the Holden Cruz used in the pursuit and reckless driving to evade police and was on bail for cocaine-related charges at the time of the crash.
• Commissioner Col Blanch called on lawmakers to mandate murder charges for anyone whose criminal actions result in the death of an on-duty police officer.