POLICE INQUIRY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 209, 17 June 1936, Page 5

POLICE INQUIRY.

WOUNDING OF AN OFFICIAL. l l ___ i QUESTION or A REPORT. ’ United Press Association—Copyright! i MELBOURNE, June 16. l The Royal Commission which is in.quiring into the shooting of Superin;tendent John O’Connell Brophy (chief 10f the Victorian criminal investigation jbranch) continued its session to-day. Judge Macindoe is the commissioner, ;and Mr ’ll. Stretton is assisting him. \ Detective O’Keefe, resuming his evi‘dence, said that after seeing Mrs Orr he realised that the shoOting was not accidental. Witness made no attempt to question the driver of the car, Maher, nor Mrs Phillips. He was con‘vinced from what Mrs Orr told him ithat a crime had been committed. j Jud e Macindoe asked Mr Wilbur Ham, viii)” where his cross—examination was leading. Mr Ham, who is appearing for the “Herald” and the “Sun,” replied: “It is very necessary to find out whether the police officers had; some motive for falsifying the reports handed to the press.” Judge Macindoe: Your suggestion to date is that Brophy may have '-been shot by an infuriated husband. Mr Ham: That is what we are here for. Brophy was in circumstances which could be regarded as indiscreet. Therefore he "had something to hide, and gave a false account of the manner. in which he received his injuries, al-j though anybody of ordinary intelli-3 gence would suspect that his account‘ was false. His colleagues shared thatl suspicion, and senior detectives lent; themselves to the falsification of facts.‘ Frederick Millard, of West Coburgh,‘ gave evidence that he was stoppedi on{ his way home in ihis car and was asked to drive Brophy to hospital. Brophyi told him he had been shot at Royali Park. Witness was under the impres~ sion that the shooting was accidental. Dr. Stanley O’Loughlin, of St. Vin—cent’s Hospital, said that Brophy was his patient on the night of the shooting. Brophy told him he had been shot and witness gained the impression that it occurred while he was on duty. Next day Brophy asked witness to keep reporters away. Doctor’s Evidence. Dr, O’Loughlin added that Sir Thomas Blarney! also asked him to keep reporters away from Bro-pihy, as he wanted to prepare an official statement for release to the press. Dr. A. Carroll, medical superintendent of St Vincent’s Hospital, said Bro—phy told him, within a quarter of an hour of his admission, that he (Brophy) had received a telephone message to in« vestigate a case in Royal Park. He went there with a friend. Two masked men fired at him. Douglas Gillison, a. reporter on the Melbourne “Argus,” when shown a slip of paper relating to Brophy’s case, declared it certainly was not the one placed before reporters by Detective Sloan. He and other reporters asked whether detectives were engaged on the all-air, to which Sir Thomas Blarney replied: “What can we do? The men were masked, and a torch was flashed in Brophy’s face.” Sir Thomas Blarney also said he did not know where the first press statement about Brophy had originated. The inquiry was adjourned.