Andrew Watson was last seen about 1.00am on Saturday 11 May 2013 at the
Rocket Room Nightclub in Northbridge WA. His vehicle, a silver Honda
CR-V sedan, was located in the car park of the Scarborough Dog Beach
on 17 May 2013. Despite extensive inquiries by police and family his
whereabouts are not known.
Coroners Act 1996 [Section
26(1)]
Coroner’s Court of Western
Australia
RECORD OF INVESTIGATION INTO
DEATH Ref No: 15/19
I, Barry Paul King, Deputy State Coroner, having investigated the
suspected death of Andrew Michael Watson with an inquest held at
Perth Coroner’s Court on 11 April 2019 find that the death has been
established beyond all reasonable doubt and that the identity of the
deceased person was Andrew Michael Watson and that death occurred on
or about 11 May 2013 in the waters of the Indian Ocean off
Scarborough from immersion in the following circumstances:
INTRODUCTION
1. Andrew Michael Watson (the deceased) was an elevator service
technician who lived in a unit in Inglewood. He was last seen in the
early hours of 11 May 2013.
2. On 13 January 2017, the deceased’s brother, Nigel Watson
(Nigel), wrote an email to the State Coroner’s Office, requesting
that an inquest be held into the deceased’s disappearance.
3. Under section 23 of the Coroners Act 1996 (the Act), where a
person is missing and the State Coroner has reasonable cause to
suspect that the person has died and that the death was a reportable
death, the State Coroner may direct that the suspected death of the
person be investigated. Where the State Coroner has given such a
direction, a coroner must hold an inquest into the circumstances of
the suspected death of the person and, if the coroner finds that the
death of the person has been established beyond all reasonable
doubt, into how the death occurred and the cause of the death.
4. On 16 January 2017, the State Coroner wrote to the officer in
charge of the Missing Persons Team of the Western Australia Police,
requesting a report containing information upon which she could have
reasonable cause to suspect that the deceased had died and that his
death was a reportable death.
5. On 6 November 2017, the State Coroner received the requested
report from the Missing Persons Team, and on 22 December 2017 she
directed that the circumstances of the suspected death of the
deceased be investigated.
6. On 11 April 2019, I held an inquest at the Perth Coroner’s
Court into the deceased’s suspected death. The documentary evidence
comprised a brief of evidence which included a report by Detective
Senior Constable Christopher Hitchen, together with relevant
material.1 Detective Senior Constable Hitchen provided oral
evidence,2 as did the deceased’s friend and work colleague, Steve
Thurston.3
7. I have found that the death of the deceased has been
established beyond all reasonable doubt and that death occurred by
way of suicide. I have found that the cause of death was immersion.
THE DECEASED
8. The deceased was born on 22 July 1966 in Lincoln in the county
of Lincolnshire in England, so he was 46 years old when he
disappeared. He had eight siblings.
9. The deceased migrated to Australia in 1968 with his parents
and siblings. They settled in High Wycombe and the deceased attended
school there. When he was young, he was interested in fitness and
athletics, and he developed a love for the beach though he was not a
strong swimmer.
10. The deceased did not obtain a trade qualification, but until
about 2009 he worked for 20 years as a technician for a major lift
and elevator company in the Perth metropolitan area.
11. In 2006 the deceased married Deborah Kaye Watson. They
separated after two or three years, but it is not clear whether they
formally divorced.5 They had no children. Following the separation,
the deceased would regularly call Nigel or one of his sisters late
at night to chat about how unhappy he was.
12. A short time after the breakdown of his marriage, the
deceased sold his house and travelled to Europe and the United
Kingdom for about six months. Upon his return, he began working for
another elevator company, where he usually worked nights
13. The deceased was a smoker and drinker, and he became a heavy
drinker at times in the period after the marriage breakdown. He
smoked cannabis recreationally and experimented with drugs such as
cocaine in the 12 months before he went missing. Despite that
lifestyle, he remained reasonably fit and healthy.7
14. The deceased had not been diagnosed with any psychological
issues, but there were times when he was seen to become depressed,
and he spoke on the odd occasion of ending it all as he no longer
wanted to be here. In particular, he struggled with the death of his
brother Keith in 2009.
15. On 18 July 2011 the deceased was taken by ambulance to the
emergency department at Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) with a large
haematoma to the back of the head after he was found heavily
inebriated and in a pool of vomit in the middle of the road. A CT
scan of his head showed a large likely arachnoid cyst centred on the
interpeduncular cistern, with mild hydrocephalus and a degree of
cerebral atrophy. There was no fracture or intracranial haemorrhage.
16. While at RPH, the deceased underwent a psychiatric assessment
in which he reported that he had seen a psychologist after the
breakup of his marriage. He said that he had then travelled but was
unsettled after his return to Perth. He said that his drinking had
increased. He admitted to suicidal thoughts but had never attempted
anything and doubted that he would. He was diagnosed with alcohol
intoxication with possible unresolved grief issues.
17. Financially, at the time of his disappearance the deceased
was living from week to week while awaiting a lump sum payment from
his superannuation. He tended to spend money helping out friends.
18. The deceased was close to all his family, especially his
mother, his sister Christine and Nigel, who lived nearby with his
family. The deceased would keep in touch with them regularly, often
every day. He kept an eye on his mother and would look out for
Nigel’s wife, Di, and their children when Nigel was working away. He
offered to move in with his mother, but she declined because she
felt that he needed to get his life back on track.
19. Apart from spending time with his extended family, the
deceased’s interests were going to the beach with his dog ‘Buddy’
and riding an electric skateboard. In the year before he
disappeared, he also began to attend strip clubs.
20. About twice a month, the deceased would go out for a drink at
a nightclub in Northbridge with his friend and colleague, Steve
Thurston, and Mr Thurston’s wife, Christine. He would usually drive
to the Thurstons’ unit in Perth and park his car nearby. They would
have a few drinks at the unit and then go to the nightclub. The
deceased would often leave the Thurstons at the nightclub and go to
a nearby strip club, and the next day he would ride his skateboard
into Perth to pick up his car.
EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE DECEASED’S DISAPPEARANCE
21. On Friday 10 May 2013, the deceased had lunch with his
mother, Nigel and Di at a pub in Guildford. He had just come off a
night shift, so he appeared tired and offcolour. That coming Sunday,
he planned to take his mother for an up-market Mother’s Day dinner
at a restaurant in Perth.
22. On the evening of 10 May 2013, the deceased went to Nigel and
Di’s house for a few drinks. Some friends also attended and the
deceased appeared to be having a good time socialising. During the
evening, he exchanged text messages with Mr Thurston and arranged to
go out with him and Mrs Thurston. The deceased gave a normal
farewell to his family with hugs and goodbyes, including a big hug
from his nephew.
23. The deceased then made his way to the Thurston’s unit, though
it is not clear how. They had a few drinks and then walked into
Northbridge where they went to their usual nightclub. He commented
to the Thurstons that it was the best fun he had had in a long time.
24. While at the nightclub, he did not become attached to any
women, nor did he have any altercations. According to Mr Thurston,
it was a typical night out for them.18
25. Around midnight, the deceased and the Thurstons went outside
to smoke cigarettes, and Mr Thurston took a picture of him and Ms
Thurston in front of two police horses. They went back inside, but
the Thurstons did not see him after that.
26. CCTV recording from the nightclub showed the deceased leaving
the venue at 12.48 am on 11 May 2013. This was the last confirmed
sighting of the deceased.
SEARCH FOR THE DECEASED
27. At 11.30 am on Monday 13 May 2013, Nigel contacted the WA
Police to report that the deceased had not attended a Mother’s Day
family gathering and could not be reached by telephone.
28. Nigel and a brother-in-law checked carparks in the Perth and
Northbridge areas for the deceased’s car. They went to the
deceased’s unit and entered through an unlocked window but found
nothing suspicious. Nigel and other family members continuously
tried to call the deceased’s mobile phone, without success.
29. The deceased did not show up for work on the night of 13 May
2013.
30. On the morning of 14 May 2013, police officers went to the
deceased’s unit. The doors were locked and no-one answered the door.
The deceased’s car was not in the carpark. Later on 14 May 2013,
Telstra advised investigators that the deceased’s phone had been
turned off for more than 24 hours. The last outgoing call was to Mr
Thurston at 8.34 pm on 10 May 2013.
31. The ANZ bank advised that the deceased’s credit card account
had not been accessed since 2.01 am Eastern Standard Time on 11 May
2013 from the nightclub where the deceased had been with the
Thurstons. The attempted transaction was denied due to insufficient
funds.
32. At 2.25 pm on 17 May 2013, Nigel contacted police after he
located the deceased’s car at the carpark at Peasholm Street Dog
Beach in Scarborough. The car was locked.
33. Police investigators attended and found a small notebook on
display on the dashboard of the car. On the first page was written
‘I love u all’ and on the third page was written ‘Buddy Daddy loves
you. Forgive me I love you all xx please look after yourselves I’m
sorry Mum’. Nigel believed that the deceased had written the notes
given the handwriting, the reference to Mum and Buddy, and the
choice of CD’s on the dash and in the CD player.24 The latter was on
a track about a relationship breakup.
34. After the deceased’s car was found, police coordinated an
extensive air, land and sea search over the following three days.
Agencies involved in the search were26
a. the WA Police Emergency Operations Centre
b. Cottesloe police station
c. Hillarys police station
d. State Emergency Services personnel
e. WA Water Police, including the Police Dive Squad27
f. Police Air Wing, using a helicopter28
g. Missing Persons Unit
35. No sign of the deceased was found and no CCTV record was
available of the vicinity of the carpark to aid in the
investigation.
FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS
36. As part of the investigation into the deceased’s
disappearance, police investigators, including Detective Senior
Constable Hitchen, conducted proof of life checks which confirmed
that (as of 2017), since the deceased disappeared:
a. there had been no claims by the deceased under Medicare or the
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme;
b. the deceased had not been treated at any Perth metropolitan or
regional public hospital;
c. no certificates had been received by the Registry of Births,
Deaths and Marriages to show the deceased’s death or a change of his
name;
d. the deceased’s mobile phone was inactive from 2.00 am on 11
May 2013, at which time it pinged off a tower near Wellington Street
in Perth
e. Centrelink had no record of any contact with the deceased;
f. the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s records
indicated that the deceased had not left Australia;
g. records of the deceased’s bank accounts showed no
transactions. At the time of his disappearance, he was in debt;
h. the Australian Federal Police and missing persons units in all
states have had no contact with the deceased;
i. there were no unidentified bodies or remains at the State
Mortuary which could be the deceased; and
j. the Department of Corrective Services had no records of the
deceased being in custody.
37. Public awareness strategies were implemented by police by
issuing a state-wide broadcast on 14 May 2013, issuing a media
released on 17 May 2013, adding the deceased’s picture and profile
on the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre website on 17
May 2013, broadcasting the deceased’s picture and profile on a
Crime-Stoppers broadcast on 6 August 2013, and featuring the
deceased on a national missing persons poster in March 2014.
38. Detective Senior Constable Hitchen concluded that all
possible avenues of investigation had been exhausted.
CONCLUSION AS TO WHETHER DEATH HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED
39. Detective Senior Constable Hitchen’s view was that, having
regard to the following circumstances, it was unlikely that the
deceased was still alive:
a. the location of the deceased’s car at the carpark of the
Peasholm dog beach about 250 metres from the ocean;
b. the notes found in the car;
c. the results of the extensive search;
d. that the deceased was not a strong swimmer;
e. the deceased’s difficulty in coping with the breakdown of his
marriage and the death of his brother, leading to heavy drinking and
debt;
f. the deceased’s uncharacteristic lack of contact with his
family and work colleagues;
g. the deceased’s lack of interaction with federal or state
agencies;
h. the deceased’s lack of use of his bank accounts; and
i. the lack of any reported sightings of the deceased.
40. Nigel believed that the deceased had ended his life. He noted
that the location at which the deceased’s car was found reflected
his love of the beach and the times he spent there with Buddy. Mr
Thurston also noted that if the deceased was going to end his life,
it made sense that he would be at the dog beach because he used to
love to take his dog there, so it would have been a natural place to
do it.
41. Nigel thought that the deceased was not happy and could not
see a way forward while his siblings were getting on with their
lives without, in the deceased’s perception, needing him to look out
for them. He had struggled to accept his brother’s death and he had
spoken about ending it all and not wanting to be here anymore.
42. Nigel also considered that the deceased would have been
embarrassed by the fact that he had been unable to get cash out of
his bank account on the night he went missing, so that he would not
have been able to take his mother out for dinner on Mother’s Day.
That would have played on his mind as an indication that he was a
failure.
43. Nigel did not believe that the deceased had planned to end
his life; rather, he had likely just thought it all over and made an
impulsive decision. He was not a strong swimmer, so once he hit the
water he knew that there was no turning back, no pain, no hurt; just
peace. In Nigel’s view, given the factors which led the deceased to
the beach that night, it was only a matter of time before he ended
his life.
44. While there is no direct evidence to prove that the deceased
is dead, given the factors identified by Detective First Class
Constable Hitchen and by Nigel Watson, I am satisfied that his death
has been proved beyond all reasonable doubt and I so find.
THE CAUSE OF THE DEATH AND HOW DEATH OCCURRED
45. I am satisfied that, with an intention to end his life, the
deceased entered the waters of the Indian Ocean off Scarborough
where he became immersed, which caused his death.
46. I find that death occurred by way of suicide.
CONCLUSION
47. The deceased ended his life at a relatively early age after
what appears to have been a slow downward psychological spiral
following the breakdown of his marriage and the death of his
brother.
48. While the deceased’s last act might be seen as a rational
response to what he perceived as a bleak future, the level of his
despair must have been profound to have driven him to put aside the
knowledge that such an act would cause terrible hurt to those he
loved.
B P King Deputy
State Coroner
23 July 2019