New details into the “paranoid” psyche of slain cop-killer Ricky Maddison have today been put under the spotlight.
Speaking at the second day of an inquest into events that led to Senior Constable Brett Forte’s shooting death, Maddison’s friend Adam Byatt gave a peek into his friend’s mind.
Byatt said Maddison was paranoid the couple was following him, insisting that he should follow them instead.
Byatt would often shoot and drink at Maddison’s bushland hideout near Wallers Road outside Toowoomba, with locals often complaining about the sound of automatic gunfire coming from the property.
It was the same property Maddison lured and killed Senior Constable Forte at in May 2017 before holing himself up for 20 hours and being shot dead by police.
One of the reasons for the two-week inquest is to investigate if police could have done things differently in the lead up to Senior Constable Forte and Maddison’s deaths.
The inquest heard that weeks before the shootout, fellow officer Andre Thaler had been leading the search for Maddison, believing the wanted man was armed and dangerous enough that he carried his own rifle during the search.
Maddison had a history of threatening police, previously making threats to ambush and shoot another police officer about 10 years before Senior Constable Forte’s death.
The coronial inquest will not proceed tomorrow due to last-minute legal action launched by lawyers representing the police officers involved in the ordeal, following an attempt to remove Ms Forte from the courtroom temporarily.
State Coroner Terry Ryan denied the first attempt before police lawyers made a second application to the court requesting Ms Forte write a new statement for the inquest.
Witnesses who were due to give evidence this afternoon and tomorrow will now be called to testify on Thursday.
This content first appear on 9news