Lynn Cannon inquest: Sisters believe there is still victim blaming mentality in WA Police force regarding DV

The family of Lynn Cannon say the inquest into the shocking murder of their baby sister has not alleviated their concerns about the WA Police force’s attitude to domestic violence and called for further changes to be made. While the tight-knit siblings are pleased some policies and procedure have been improved since the mother-of-two’s death, Jacqui Darley said it became obvious to them during the coronial inquiry there was still an embedded victim blaming mentality among officers. Speaking after the inquest came to a close, Ms Darley explained the comment made by a constable during the hearing questioning why Lynn would go to Cannon’s house if she thought she was in danger showed a lack in understanding of coercive control behaviours. She also said remarks made by the lawyer acting for WA Police in closing submissions that the actions of officers on the night were “reasonable” was difficult to hear. “It was difficult to hear because you’re thinking, well, if they haven’t learned these lessons, how is change going to come about,” Ms Darley said. “It’s all about damage control to them, isn’t it? You know, we’re just trying to get them to look and learn from the mistakes made, so that improvements can be made in the future, so that other families don’t have to go through the pain and anguish that we’ve been through.” Lynn was repeatedly stabbed to death by her jealous ex-husband Paul Cannon in December 2022 after he lured her to his Lansdale home under false pretences. The pair had separated, but Cannon had failed to come to terms with the end of the marriage and would often send her vile and abusive messages and threatened to kill her several times. The day he killed her, Cannon, after learning she had a new partner, had travelled to Lynn’s house in the morning with a knife and threatened her, then lured her to his house in the afternoon under the guise of signing car papers. After she arrived, an argument broke out, which later escalated, prompting calls from worried neighbours. Then just after 8pm, Cannon’s housemate walked in and witnessed the horrific ordeal. It later emerged Lynn’s family members had called triple-0 an hour before her death, explaining Cannon had gone to her house armed with a knife earlier. The triple-0 operator assigned the call as a priority 2 but it was later downgraded to priority 3 — a response time difference of 12 minutes to one hour. The officer who made that decision told the inquest in his view downgrading the priority of the job was appropriate, given the information they had. The inquiry was told it was an unusually busy night in the Joondalup district with police in the area receiving 230 triple-0 calls. They had forecast there would be 89. And all nine cars in the area were occupied when the call was logged with some dispatched to higher priority jobs. Ms Darley said her family had gone to the inquest hoping that those responsible for the downgrading “might have the humility to admit that they had made a mistake, at the very least, to show some remorse” and was disappointed they did not. “Unfortunately, attitudes to domestic violence still need to change within the police force,” Ms Darley said. “This became obvious to us during this coronial. We noted indifference, complacency and a lack of urgency. And it did not go unnoticed by the family that it was until the third day of the hearing that we were offered condolences from an officer.” A WA Police spokesperson said the force had made significant changes in the wake of Lynn Cannon’s tragic death saying those changes were provided to the coroner for her consideration and detailed during the inquest. “As a police force, we must always strive to be better,” the statement said. “We will now await the Coroner’s findings and recommendations, which we will carefully consider in due course.” Deputy State Coroner Sarah Linton is expected to deliver those findings within the next six months.