A coronial inquest in Australia has been told that 47-year-old Krista Li Chin Kach hurled an axe at police officers during a 10-hour siege at her home in Newcastle before she was shot with a bean-bag round that fatally injured her.

 

According to ABC News, the incident occurred on September 14, 2023, at Ms Kach’s unit in Stockton, a suburb of Newcastle. She later died in the hospital after suffering cardiac arrest.

 

The inquest, which is expected to run for two weeks, is examining whether police actions were appropriate and reasonable, the adequacy of their training, and the absence of body-worn video footage from specialist officers involved in the final stages of the confrontation.

 

The court heard that on the morning of the incident, a local barber saw Ms Kach in a distressed condition, walking in the street while carrying an axe and talking to herself. Counsel assisting the coroner, Sophie Callan SC, told the inquest that her behaviour suggested she was experiencing an acute mental health crisis, as reported by ABC News.

 

It was further revealed that Ms Kach had earlier been served with an eviction notice at about 10:00 am. During that encounter, she allegedly threatened a real estate agent with an axe.

 

Body-camera footage from general duties officers was played in court. The footage showed Ms Kach in her backyard, shouting and speaking to herself while police attempted to negotiate. When one officer opened the gate and entered the yard, she threw an axe in his direction. The weapon missed. Another officer was struck on the leg by a rock she had thrown.

 

Senior Constable Nicholas Brylynsky, who first opened the gate, admitted under questioning that the move placed officers at risk. When asked if he had learned from the incident and would now be more inclined to contain and negotiate, he responded in the affirmative.

 

Another officer, Senior Constable Christopher Bradbury, told the court he would have waited longer before entering the yard, saying he would only have done so if the situation appeared low risk. He also extended condolences to Ms Kach’s family, stating that officers had attempted to resolve the matter peacefully.

 

The inquest was informed that Ms Kach’s daughter repeatedly requested to speak to her mother during the stand-off, believing it might help de-escalate the situation.

 

Specialist tactical officers later entered the unit at about 9.30 pm. Ms Kach was tasered and a bean-bag round, also known as a super-sock round was fired. The court heard there was no body-worn camera footage capturing those moments.

 

Although she managed to walk unassisted to an ambulance, Ms Kach went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at 10.55 pm in the hospital.

 

A post-mortem examination found that the bean-bag round penetrated her chest and perforated her right lung, causing the fatal injury, according to ABC News.

 

Bean-bag rounds are fabric sacks filled with small lead pellets and are marketed as a less-lethal option for law enforcement. Following Ms Kach’s death, the use of such munitions by tactical police in New South Wales was suspended in September 2023. After a review, their use resumed in August 2024 under stricter deployment guidelines, ABC News reported.

 

The inquest continues as the court seeks to establish the full circumstances surrounding Ms Kach’s death.