Tasmanian inquest investigates the suicides of four policemen trends now
An inquest into the death of a Tasmanian policeman heard he was 'abused' by evacuees during a horror bushfire season and was 'obsessed' with suicide cases.
Father of two, Constable Simon Darke, 45, took his own life on February 6, 2019, after working 23 hours of overtime in three days to evacuate Tasmanian bushfire victims.
His former partner, Kimberly Freeman, spoke at a coronial inquest investigating the death of Mr Darke and three other officers over 12 days from November 21 to December 9.
Ms Freeman said Mr Darke loved working on the force, but she had noticed a change in his mental health before his death.
Father of two Tasmanian Constable Simon Darke (above) committed suicide after helping evacuate bushfire victims in early 2019
She told the court Mr Darke would become fixated on his cases which involved suicide, and that she was worried he was in possession of a weapon.
Another former partner, Shanna Sweeney, said she had contacted police in 2011 because Mr Darke had threatened suicide but said she believes the matter was swept under the rug.
Mr Darke died just days after working gruelling shifts to evacuate residents around the Huon Valley.
A severe bushfire had been burning in the area since December 28, 2018, but a series of lightning strikes around Huon Valley on January 24 meant thousands had to be evacuated.
Mr Darke was one of many officers who went door to door telling locals to move to a nearby evacuation centre, but his father, Graham, said he'd suffered horrific abuse.
'My son mentioned he had copped a lot of abuse when he asked people to leave their homes during the fires, he then went onto night shift by himself, which in hindsight wasn't appropriate,' Graham told the inquest, the ABC reports.
Mr Darke's father said he'd suffered 'abuse' while helping evacuate residents during the 2019 Huon Valley bushfires (pictured, view of the fire from nearby town, Huonville)
The evacuation centre helped about 700 people daily for 15 days, closing on February 8.
The inquest heard Mr Darke reported to the Bellerive Police Station for the night shift on February 6, 2019, but GPS data from his work car shows he left early in the night to go back to his home in Midway Point.
Police radio room workers tried to contact Mr Darke at 1.14 am and sent two officers to his house when they were unable to make contact.
Counsel assisting the coroner Cameron Lee said the officers found Mr Darke 'deceased at the property'.
Ms Sweeney said when she'd reported Mr Darke's suicide threat in 2011, it was understood that if he sought help, he'd be indirectly punished.
'There was a perception he would be judged if he got help,' she said.
She added it was common knowledge among the officers at his unit that he was dealing with suicidal thoughts.
The inquest heard two of Mr Darke's (above) former partners had been worried he could self-harm before his death on February 6, 2019
Coroner Cameron Lee also talked to the inquest about the death of beloved rural policeman Sergeant Robert Cooke, 49, who took his life on October 13, 2020.
He said, like Mr Darke, Mr Cooke suffered a series of stressful events while in the police force but didn't properly address these issues out of fear it would affect his job.
Mr Cooke worked at the police station in Oatlands, about
