A truck driver fined for having an unsecured load told a highway patrol officer he'd "ruined his day" before he yanked a ratchet strap and fell into the path of an oncoming semi-trailer, a Sydney inquest into his death has heard.
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Father-of-seven Solomon Shortland, 56, became "emotionally distressed" when he was pulled over by Senior Constable Shane Heron on Vardys Road in Kings Park in January 2017.
The officer gave evidence on Monday before coroner Les Mabbutt who's investigating whether the police operation contributed to the truckie's death and whether the roadside stop was conducted in a safe location.
The inquest will also examine the restraint equipment available to Mr Shortland and if it was appropriately used.
The New Zealand-born man was working for General Flooring and bound for Westmead Hospital with 48 cement bags, four rolls of vinyl and four drums of adhesive in the back of a 6.2-tonne Isuzu open-tray truck.
Sen Const Heron said he was fined $433 and penalised three demerit points.
"Solomon did get very upset at that point. He told me that I'd ruined his day (and) he wished for something bad to happen to me," he said.
The officer said it was "quite rare for someone to become that emotionally distressed" and he decided to leave.
"I don't like leaving on a bad note. I did want to give him a final instruction," he said.
But before Sen Const Heron could ask him to move his vehicle - "probably up to McDonald's" roughly two kilometres away - Mr Shortland gave "a massive yank" on a ratchet strap with no resistance and fell backwards.
Semi-trailer driver Robert Cruise "did his best" to veer right but struck Mr Shortland's head and shoulder, which spun his body around before his body and legs were also run over.
He succumbed to his extensive injuries.
Sen Const Heron denied directing Mr Shortland to secure his load on the right side of the truck, stopped in the left of two eastbound lanes, but conceded he also "didn't tell him not to".
"I was definitely not going to let him complete his journey," he said.
The officer created a "corridor of safety" by parking his police car to the right of the left lane, offset to Mr Shortland's truck, to create a void between the stopped vehicle and passing traffic.
"It was a safe place to perform a simple task," he said.
"I was happy with where Solomon stopped."
Counsel assisting the coroner, Cameron Gardiner, said the death "clearly" occurred in the course of a police operation and "arguably as a result" of it.
Mr Cruise can't testify as he died from a rare form of cancer in March 2017.
Mr Shortland's third wife, Mercia Kavanagh-Shortland, and a number of adult children sat in the public gallery but were overcome by emotion when footage of the incident - taken from a police in-car video - was aired in court.
Australian Associated Press
