Qld: Mum questions teenage son's death in custody

AAP General News (Australia)
02-11-2009
Qld: Mum questions teenage son's death in custody

By Steve Gray

BRISBANE, Feb 11 AAP - Her teenage son was in police custody, handcuffed and lying
face-down on a busy road when he was run over and killed.

Now Helen Bornen wants answers.

Andrew Bornen, 16, died when struck by a car at around 11pm (AEST) on Saturday in the
Ipswich suburb of Brassall, west of Brisbane.

Police were responding to reports of a man waving a machete, but the unarmed teenager
voluntarily lay on the ground when threatened with a Taser.

Police say their attempts to flag down the approaching car, driven by a young woman, were futile.

Helen Bornen told AAP the death of her "lovely boy" hasn't sunk in yet, but as she
nurtures Andrew's seven siblings and receives dozens of condolence calls and cards, her
mind is besieged by questions and "what ifs".

Did police follow proper safety procedures? Was her son conscious or unconscious when
struck by the car? Why wasn't he immediately removed from the road once handcuffed? Had
he been tasered, despite police denials?

While these and many other questions flash through her mind, Ms Bornen has sympathy
for the two plainclothes officers who arrested her son, and the young driver whose car
struck him.

"I'm very cranky with the police but I don't want the whole town to hate the police
`cos this has happened," she said.

"Then I got cranky with the driver, but the reality is the police didn't kill him,
the driver didn't kill him, he didn't kill himself - it was the car that did the damage.

"But there's all these questions."

How long was Andrew on the road before the car came? Why were there no skid marks?

Why weren't the police on the lookout? Where was the police car parked?

"I'm not defending the police, but they're probably sitting at home saying `if only
I'd done this, what if, what if'. It will always be `what if'.

"The driver of the car's probably saying `what if I would have swerved, what if I didn't
go down that road that night?'"

Ms Bornen wants to meet the young driver of the car, who she has absolved of any blame.

"I don't blame her, I actually feel sorry for her," Ms Bornen said.

"If she'd like to come around and see me, do so, because I don't blame her."

The death is being investigated by the police ethical standards command.

Andrew will be buried in Ipswich next Wednesday.

"He was loved by everyone," Ms Bornen said.

"He never posed a threat to anyone. Out of all the kids he was the one with the biggest heart."

AAP stg/ahe/it/mn

KEYWORD: BORNEN (WITH PIX)

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