Inquest into the death of Gary Allibon

STATE CORONER'S COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES Inquiry Inquest into the death of Gary Allibon Hearing dates: 11 September 2015 Date of findings: 11 September 2015 Place of findings: NSW State Coroner Court - Glebe Findings of: Deputy State Coroner H. Barry File number: 2010/436005 Representation: Sergeant P Bush assisting the Coroner Ms Holt, representing Chubb Security Services Pty Ltd A non publication order on the whole brief of evidence is made pursuant to Section 74 of the Coroners Act 2009.

The Coroners Act 2009 (NSW) in s81 (1) requires that when an inquest is held, the coroner must record in writing his or her findings as to various aspects of the death.

These are the findings of an inquest into the death of Mr Gary Allibon The Inquest: Under S.81(1) of the Coroners Act 2009,a Coroner holding an inquest is required to determine the following matters:

(a) The identity of the deceased

(b) The date and place of the deceased person's death

(c) The manner and cause of their death.

In addition, under S.27(1)(a) of the Act an inquest concerning the death of a person is required to be held if it appears that the person died as a result of a homicide.

The identity, date and place of death of Gary Allibon is un-contentious.

The primary focus of this inquest is to examine the manner and cause of his death.

Introduction Mr Allibon was a 59 year old man at the time of his death. He and his wife had been planning their retirement which was to take place in about 8 months following this incident.

He was a loving and devoted husband and is greatly missed.

Mrs Allibon made a gracious and courageous statement to the court.

She described the impact Mr Allibon's death has had on her, stating that she feels no better today than the day of his death. She described each day as a "gut wrenching day".

Her wish is that the perpetrators are caught as this may help resolve a little of the grief. Her grief was palpable.

Gary Allibon was employed by Chubb Security Services as an armoured vehicle operator. He had been employed by Chubb Security for a period of about 12 years.

On 7 June 2010, Mr Allibon and three colleagues were replenishing automatic teller machines inside the Darling Park Building, Sussex Street Sydney, when they were confronted by 4 offenders wearing balaclavas and armed with pistols.

During the armed robbery, Mr Allibon was shot by one of the offenders.

As a result of the gunshot wound Mr Allibon died, the Post Mortem Report prepared by Dr J. Duflou, revealing that" there was a single gunshot wound to the trunk, with a projectile entering the left flank, passing through the left lung, and passing out of the body in the front of the chest on the right. The injury was unsurvivable." The Evidence: Detective Sergeant Adam Bird, the Officer in Charge of this matter prepared a thorough and extensive brief of evidence, consisting of two volumes of material. He also gave oral evidence.

Briefly, the evidence reveals the following: Mr Allibon was the driver/guard on the 7 June 2010. It was his task to be responsible for the driving of the Chubb vehicle and to provide security for the "transactioner", who was the person seated in the front passenger seat. It was the transactioner's duty to carry the cash from the vehicle to the destination.

A third officer was a rear guard whose task was to stay inside the vehicle and release the cash canisters to the transactioner.

The run that Mr Allibon and his two colleagues had been assigned that day was to attend a number of locations to replenish automatic teller machines. The first location was the Darling Park Building in Sussex Street, Sydney.

At about 5.40am, Mr Allibon drove the Chubb armoured vehicle from the Chubb Depot in Lane Cove towards Sydney CBD.

At that time, CClV footage on the Harbour Bridge recorded a silver coloured Audi SS Sedan travelling in a northerly direction over the Bridge.

Earlier that morning, an employee of Chubb Security had observed a silver coloured Audi sedan as he travelled along Centennial Ave towards Lane Cove.The Audi overtook this employee's vehicle on the left side and accelerated over the speed limit along Centennial Ave.

He later observed the Audi in the left hand 'slip lane' at the intersection of Centennial Ave and Epping Road, before it turned left into Epping Road and sped away.

The vehicle identified by CClV footage on the Harbour Bridge was later identified as being a stolen Audi SS Sedan.

This Audi passed the Chubb vehicle being driven by Mr Allibon which was travelling in a southerly direction. The Audi then proceeded to conduct a 'u' turn on the Bridge, causing a minor collision, and without stopping, continued south towards the Chubb vehicle.

The Chubb armoured vehicle entered Sussex Street, Haymarket and stopped in a parking bay directly in front of the Darling Park Building on the western curb of the road.

Prior to exiting, the occupants of the armoured vehicle obtained confirmation from the escort vehicle, via radio communication, that the area was clear of apparent threats.

The escort vehicle had arrived about 15 minutes earlier and had parked on the eastern curb of Sussex Street, across from the entrance of the building.

On the "all clear", Mr Allibon and his colleague in the front passenger seat exited the vehicle. Mr Allibon stood at the rear of the passenger's side of the van giving him a clear view along Sussex Street. He then directed the rear guard in the vehicle to release the cash canisters to his offsider.

The escort officer proceeded to walk up a small flight of stairs to the front doors of the Darling Park Building. He entered the building.

Mr Allibon made his way up the stairs to the front door. The transactioner officer carried 2 cash canisters up the stairs towards his colleagues.

At that time the stolen Audi sedan stopped behind and slightly to the left hand side of the armoured vehicle.

A person exited the rear offside passenger's door. He was wearing a black balaclava, black clothing and carrying a black coloured semi automatic handgun.

The Chubb officer observed three persons exit the Audi, all wearing black clothing and balaclavas. One of the offenders ran toward the Chubb officer screaming "Get on the fucking ground". The Chubb officer lay face down on the footpath with the cash boxes beside him.

The offender pulled this officer to his feet yelling "open the fucking truck'' The Chubb officer replied: "I can't, I can't, I can't get you in" The offender replied "fucking bullshif'. He reportedly had a Middle Eastern accent.

A further two offenders ran up the stairs into the foyer of the building.

The Chubb escort officer was heading toward the automatic teller machine at the rear of the foyer. He heard a male yell "get down" and then he heard a "bang". He took cover behind a lounge suite.

The Chubb officer outside heard 3 to 4 shots. CClV footage from the Darling Park Building recorded Mr Allibon falling through the doorway, face down onto the ground just inside the doorway.

The offenders rolled Mr Allibon onto his back and removed his .38 calibre revolver.

The offenders then re-entered the silver Audi and sped away.

Mr Allibon was transported by ambulance to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, where he underwent emergency treatment. Despite the treatment he was pronounced dead shortly after admission Detective Sergeant Bird has conducted an extensive investigation including, inter alia, recording numerous witness statements and observing CCTV footage.

What is clear from the investigation is that Mr Allibon was in the process of moving away from the threat. He did nothing to provoke the offenders and in fact his service revolver was holstered and he had made no attempt to remove it.

Mr Allibon was a decent, hard working man simply going about his job. He was the victim of a cowardly act by an offender who shot him from the rear.

I do not propose to make any further comment about the comprehensive amount of evidence gathered in this matter.

Nor do I propose to make any findings on the evidence.

Detective Sergeant Bird has given evidence that the investigation has proceeded as far as it can in the current circumstances.

Formal Findings:

• I find that Mr Gary Allibon ( d.o.b.17.2.51) died on 7 June 2010 at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital as a result of a gunshot wound to the chest, the point of entry being to the rear left of the body, between ribs 7 and 8; inflicted by a person unknown acting in concert with persons unknown.

Pursuant to S.82(1) I make the following recommendation.

Recommendation I recommend that the investigation of the death of Mr Gary Aliibon be referred to the Unsolved Homicide Unit of the NSW Police for further investigation in accordance with the policies and protocols of the unit.

It is noted that a reward of $100,000 has been offered for information that would assist in this investigation.

I close this inquest HG Barry Deputy State Coroner Glebe 11 September2015