DETECTIVES GIVE EVIDENCE

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 222, 16 June 1936, Page 9

DETECTIVES GIVE EVIDENCE

Melbourne Police Inquiry SUPERINTENDENT BROPHY CASE By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright (Received June 15, 9-15 p.m.) Melbourne, June 15. At the inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the shooting of Police Superintendent Brophy and the accuracy of police statements concerning the occurrence, Detective-Inspector A. T. McKerrall, chief of the Criminal Investigation Department, gave evidence regarding the conflicting stories of the wounding of Brophy and the measures adopted to clear the matter up as “newspapers on the Monday following the shooting published information in which there were discrepancies and departures from fact” The shooting was originally believed to have been accidental, but later Detective Carey told witness that he had seen Brophy at the hospital and ascertained that it was not accidental. Sir Thomas Blarney, Chief Commissioner, then instructed witness to correct the accident story and give the newspapers the true facts. ' Mr. L. Stretton, who is assisting the Royal Commissioner, asked witness: If an informer rang you in order to make an appointment to tell you about a prospective bank hold-up, would you meet him right on the steps of fhat bank? McKerral: Probably no. Mr. Stretton: Would you, as Brophy purports to have done, have met the informer right in the centre of the area where the motor bandits were operating? McKerral: The circumstances are different. You have usually to keep an appointment at the spot named by the informer, otherwise he will not come. McKerral added that he saw nothing wrong in what Brophy did. It was quite good detective work. The doctor attending Brophy believed the whole thing was accidental, despite the fact that the wounds were widely distributed. Detective-Sergeant. H. Carey detailed the efforts he made to find out, the facts of the shooting. He said that Brophy was doubtful whether he could identify his assailants, but he hoped to pick up an informer who might help. Carey added that as a result of his investigations he now planned taking “certain action in a certain direction, but. it was not desirable to divulge what was going on.” J|r. Stretton: Do you agree with Brophy that the name of the informer in this case is sacred? Carey: I do. .Detective O’Keefe is at this moment obtaining information that might be of value.