Harri Jokinen, pictured with his eldest daughter Lisa Jokinen, who said his death left a “massive hole” in their family’s lives. Photo: Supplied.
A magistrate criticised the actions of NSW Police and recommended changes for the force when handing down her findings into the death of an innocent motorist who died from a head-on crash during a police car chase.
Her findings for the inquest into the death of 56-year-old Harri Jokinen have been welcomed by his family, who said they miss him “every second of every day”.
Marc Anthony Jessop was trying to escape from police in December 2021 when he drove a stolen car into Mr Jokinen’s van at about 188 km/h on the Monaro Highway, south of the ACT, killing him.
Jessop was handed more than 10 years in jail for manslaughter before an inquest began into the Canberra father’s death, focusing on the actions of police.
The inquest heard that the first police pursuit of Jessop was called off because it was thought to be too dangerous to the public.
But police began chasing him a second time, and he was trying to escape this pursuit when he crashed into Mr Jokinen’s van.
An important question faced by the inquest was whether it was appropriate to initiate the second pursuit.
Magistrate Rebecca Hosking, when delivering her findings on Friday (16 May), said a supervisor had given permission for the police on the scene to begin a short second pursuit, as long as certain parameters were met.
But she said information in this permission was not conveyed to an officer at the scene and it was apparent there had been “a communication breakdown”.
This officer began searching for the Commodore, and when he found it, Magistrate Hosking said it was important to note Jessop was driving within the speed limit.
But the officer initiated a pursuit and Jessop began speeding at over 170 km/h.
Another officer had tried to set up a tyre deflation device ahead of the pursuit, but didn’t have time to activate it before Jessop approached.
Harri Jokinen has been remembered by his partner, Libby Adamson, as a “beautiful human”. Photo: Supplied.
Jessop had said that in order to evade the police car that was following him, he tried to overtake cars by crossing onto the wrong side of the road, then crashed head-on into Mr Jokinen’s van.
Magistrate Hosking said she thought if the supervisor had known all the relevant facts, it was likely they would have refused the request to begin the second pursuit.
She said the need to apprehend Jessop was low to moderate before the second pursuit, and his high speed in the first chase indicated the lengths he might go to to avoid arrest.
There was no evidence of dangerous driving or excessive speed before the second pursuit, and the parameters to reengage should have been passed on to the officers on the scene, she said.
She also said the use of the tyre deflation device should not have been authorised.
Magistrate Hosking made several recommendations for the NSW Police Commissioner, including that safe driving guidelines be amended so that a car pursuit can only begin if police are satisfied a risk to the community existed before starting the chase.
She also recommended more training for police officers on the threshold tests for police pursuits.
Her findings were welcomed by Mr Jokinen’s family, including son-in-law Rhys Hardy, who said the second pursuit was “not safe, not sensible and not necessary”.
“She said today what we’ve known all along, which is that the police made the wrong decision and they didn’t follow their own policy when doing that,” Mr Hardy said.
“We’d really like to see the police take some meaningful action.
“The police have never been accountable to the family for what happened, they never really owned up to their involvement in this and maybe this [the findings] will prompt something there.”
When asked if the police had apologised to the family, Mr Jokinen’s partner Elisabeth Adamson said, “They’ve given us their condolences, that’s not the same as an apology”.
“We miss him, every second of every day,” she said of Mr Jokinen.
His daughter, Lisa Jokinen, has described him as a man of remarkable intelligence, creativity and enthusiasm for life.
“For me, everything is a reminder of the loss and the massive hole that’s in all of our lives now,” she said on Friday.
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