An embarrassing incident ruled Mal Lanyon out of the top job in 2021. Now he's the front runner

Sydney Morning Herald

5 days ago

Late on a summer night in Goulburn, a man was lying near a pathway just metres from the town's most famous attraction, the Big Merino. Police were told it was a code red, which requires urgency – speed, lights and sirens. A person was 'lying on the footpath', the officers were told. 'NK [not known] if C&B [conscious and breathing].'
An ambulance arrived soon after police to find what the paramedics described in statements later tabled to parliament as an unsteady, confused and mumbling middle-aged man. Police told them he was 'smashed' and had to be roused with 'powerful stimuli', the statements said. One source close to the incident told the Herald the man had been at a local pub drinking limoncello, an Italian liqueur made from lemons.
The man resisted help, and as they tried to get him onto a stretcher, he 'clenched his fists, and raised his arms', before telling them to 'f--- off' and calling the officers' boss, the chief executive of Ambulance NSW, Dr Dominic Morgan. A paramedic warned the man that police would stop him if he tried to get away. 'They will be the ones in trouble if they try to stop me, I won't be in trouble,' the ambulance officer quoted him as saying.
He left the ambulance against advice and was taken back to his hotel room, where he had 'difficulty gaining enough balance to open the door', said one of the ambulance statements.
The man they assisted that night back in February 2021, Mal Lanyon, was – and still is, albeit on secondment to another agency – a deputy commissioner of the NSW Police Force. He applied for but missed out on the commissioner's job later that year because of the incident, for which he apologised, but is now favourite to take over the top job from outgoing boss Karen Webb.
The NSW police commissioner has the highest profile of any NSW public servant, and has traditionally held significant moral authority – greater, usually, than politicians themselves. The job is also the professional version of Gollum's ring; desperately sought after, but known to destroy the careers of those who want it too badly. As the application deadline approaches on Wednesday, rivalries are again reaching fever pitch.
Lanyon is the front runner, but he has detractors. There are some who think the hallowed job of NSW's chief of police should go to someone with a less blemished record, particularly as questions persist over whether Lanyon was let off lightly, while – as one senior police officer on the condition of anonymity puts it – 'constables get hauled [over the coals] for everything they do wrong'.
Others are more forgiving. 'He made a mistake,' says independent upper house MP Rod Roberts, a former detective. 'He has paid his penalty and everyone is entitled to a mistake.'
History suggests the favourite is never a sure thing in the race for commissioner. 'Uncle' Ken Moroney, Andrew Scipione and Mick Fuller all benefited from mutually destructive battles between two more likely deputies. Webb had been the dark horse candidate until Lanyon's hopes were put on ice after Goulburn and former homicide boss Mick Willing's attempts at lobbying annoyed then-premier Dominic Perrottet.
Webb struggled in the job, mostly due to poor communication skills. Her timidity in front of the camera meant she forfeited the authority of her predecessors. But she was not helped by her rival's presence in the executive office. He was better at media and more politically adroit, representing a constant point of comparison that, insiders say, worried her. Schisms appeared in the top ranks between Webb (backed by the deputies she'd appointed) and the deputies she'd inherited, including Lanyon and fellow deputy David Hudson.
Webb sacked one of her rivals, Willing, soon after she took the job. Her supporters came to think it was a strategic error not to have moved Lanyon on too. In April last year, Webb had Lanyon relocated to the NSW Reconstruction Authority on a secondment, where he remains. But that was a strategic error, too; it put him in close contact with Premier Chris Minns and Premier's Department secretary Simon Draper, who are said to have become fans of Lanyon's.
Draper will be on the interview panel for the commissioner's job, as well as Kate Boyd, the secretary of the cabinet office, and Michael Tidball, the secretary of the Department of Communities and Justice.
Police Minister Yasmin Catley was close to Webb and is, several sources say, less enamoured of Lanyon than her boss.
Webb's resignation last month came as a surprise. She had served barely three years; a commissioner's term is supposed to last for five. Hers was the shortest tenure in four decades. In the mid-1990s, the power to appoint commissioners was taken from a board and given to the police minister (inspired by a face-off between a police minister, Ted Pickering, and a commissioner, Tony Lauer, which Lauer won). At the time, there were warnings that move would politicise the role.
Webb's spokespeople say her departure was her own decision, but multiple police sources say she was actively encouraged by the government to go amid leaks, continuous attacks from sections of the media and ongoing concern about her public-facing performance. If it's true that Webb was pushed, Minns would be the first premier since the Police Act of 1990 to have ended a commissioner's tenure midway through their term – an unprecedented level of political interference.
As soon as Webb's departure was announced, sources within the government suggested that, barring unexpected candidates or events, the job would be Lanyon's. The premier 'loves him', says a senior police officer, also on the condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the media. The view that the job is Lanyon's is so widely held within the police force that several possible applicants told the Herald that they saw little point in putting themselves forward.
With applications still open, his competitors are less clear. Most hopefuls still haven't submitted the paperwork. Sources close to Lanyon confirm he intends to apply. Those close to Hudson, a long-serving deputy who is popular with many serving police, says he's been reluctant to put himself forward but might consider doing so if he is asked, perhaps for a shorter term than the usual five years. He is liked and respected by grassroots officers. 'The best commissioner NSW never had,' says one senior officer.
Willing is likely to throw his hat into the ring. Sources say Paul Pisanos, another deputy, is considering his options, while those close to the acting commissioner, Peter Thurtell, argue he would be the continuity candidate, but there is no indication he will apply.
Some assistant commissioners may put themselves forward, such as Peter Cotter from Professional Standards Command. It's unusual that a commissioner comes from their ranks, though not unprecedented – Fuller is an example.
An external candidate is also unlikely, not least because the powerful NSW Police Association is of the strong view that the appointment should be internal. Plus, a difficult tenure by Briton Peter Ryan in the late '90s, as the NSW Police grappled with its corruption clean-out, is still fresh in the minds of many. Victoria recently struggled to find internal candidates for its own top job (it imported a New Zealander), and Queensland is in flux, due to the ill health of its commissioner.
An Australian Federal Police candidate is unlikely to win favour; there is animosity between NSW Police and their federal counterparts, and the type of policing is different.
Lanyon is ambitious, well-connected and better at talking to politicians than Webb. Lismore MP Janelle Saffin is said to be a fan of the work he is doing at the reconstruction authority, and he has the support of key non-Labor MPs too.
Lanyon grew up in Rydalmere and cut his police teeth in the old 8th division, a once-rough area that took in Glebe, Balmain and Leichhardt (which also produced Hudson and influential former deputy Nick Kaldas). He has held some senior jobs within the organisation, including head of the State Crime Command and corporate services. He would probably be police commissioner now, if it wasn't for that night in Goulburn.
The Big Merino was too fresh in the public mind when the job came around last time, sources close to the 2021 recruitment process say on the condition of anonymity to protect the privacy of deliberations. It has now had four years to fade into the distance. But questions linger over how the matter was handled, particularly as many more junior police – and some senior ones – feel they would have faced far more severe consequences if they'd done the same thing.
The Sunday Telegraph broke the story in March 2021. It said Lanyon was found collapsed in the gardens of the Mercure Hotel (next to the Big Merino), was attended by police and ambulance, resisted paramedics, and called Morgan.
Lanyon was visiting the city for an attestation ceremony at the police academy, where graduating probationary constables would have been taught about the NSW Police code of conduct. It says police must 'behave honestly and in a way that upholds the values and good reputation of NSW Police, whether on or off' duty, and 'must not make improper use of their position'.
Police issued a statement to the newspaper, saying the officer had a 'minor medical episode' that his doctor said had occurred as a result of 'exhaustion and dehydration'. The officer apologised to the ambulance officers 'if he presented any difficulty' and also apologised to them in person.
When then-commissioner Fuller was asked about it by a parliamentary estimates committee in March 2021, he said Lanyon told him he'd had a 'medical episode', and while alcohol was consumed, it wasn't the cause. Lanyon and Morgan had told him there was no criminal behaviour or conduct unbecoming of a police officer, Fuller testified to the committee.
'From my perspective, there was nothing identified under part 8A,' Fuller said, referring to the procedure for making complaints about police conduct. The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, or LECC, 'looked into this matter, but they were not considering opening a matter based on the information they had, so the matter was closed'.
The committee was given a letter from the conduct commission, the police oversight body. The letter didn't quite say it had looked at the matter and decided not to investigate; it said the commission had seen the Telegraph article but wasn't investigating because it had not received a complaint, and there was no intention to investigate it any further.
'I am aware Mr Lanyon has recently assumed his very senior position in the police force with its attendant stresses and responsibilities,' LECC commissioner Reginald Blanch wrote to Fuller. 'I am confident in leaving a check on his welfare to you.'
It wasn't until later in the year, when parliament sought documents from police and ambulance, that the paramedics' versions of the night were made public. The statements, made a week after the incident, said Lanyon was drunk; 'the patient was so intoxicated that he would not have [been] able to walk unassisted,' wrote one.
One said the main concern of their boss, Morgan, who was called by Lanyon, was how the patient would be looked after. 'The patient should not be left alone in his current intoxicated state, as it would potentially be dangerous,' the statement said. The man was allowed to return to his room, assisted by police, although he 'swayed back and forth' as he opened the door, said one of the statements.
The upper house demanded police and ambulance produce documentation of the incident. The police documents were heavily redacted, and included the notes of only one officer. There was no documentation about the creation of a COPS event, which is standard procedure after such call-outs, a former police officer turned whistleblower, Richard McDonald, told the Herald. A COPS event would have required the name of the person of interest, in this case Lanyon, to be recorded in the system.
Fuller told another parliamentary estimates hearing in September that Morgan had told him the incident was consistent with low blood pressure. He said that he had personally counselled Lanyon. However, when asked in a supplementary question whether he knew of the allegations in the ambulance statements when he counselled Lanyon, Fuller said no.
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McDonald argues that scrutiny was unusually light for that kind of incident. 'This was a case involving one of the highest-ranking officers in the state, involving alleged abuse of emergency service workers, apparent intoxication in public, and possible breaches of statutory obligations [by the attending officers] under LEPRA [Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act] – and yet, no investigation was even attempted,' he says.
LEPRA requires police to detain someone who is intoxicated in a public place, if they pose a risk to themselves or someone else. 'Instead, they allowed a visibly intoxicated and unstable man, who had already required emergency assistance, to return alone to a motel room in a condition that placed him at serious risk,' McDonald says.
The LECC told the Herald that it sought more information after its initial letter and was 'satisfied with the NSW Police Force handling of the matter'. It would not provide any further details.
But McDonald is not the only one who feels there are still questions about how the incident was handled. 'You'd expect to be charged, let alone fired for that,' says one more junior officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity so he could speak freely. A recently retired officer with knowledge of the incident says, 'If Lanyon gets [the commissioner's job], that's clear evidence that morality and ethical behaviour means nothing to the government.'
Another, more senior officer, says the scrutiny of junior officers was rigorous in the police force, but seemed less so when it came to higher ranks. 'It's the culture of the joint.' Unless an outsider is appointed to the force, the person says, 'the culture will not change'. That person is not the only one concerned about police culture; Webb commissioned an independent review of it before she left, and the results are due early next year.
A meme that circulated in the days after Webb resigned and Lanyon emerged as a front runner – around the same time Catholics waited for a Vatican smoke signal to announce a new pope – showed blue smoke emerging from the Big Merino statue, with the words, 'we have a new commissioner'.
Fuller told the Herald, in response to questions for this article, that Lanyon had reported the incident to him the following day, and Morgan confirmed Lanyon's version of events. 'Given his rank, I held Mr Lanyon to a higher standard than a junior officer and counselled him for the overall incident,' he said. 'LECC was informed of the incident and was satisfied with the outcome.
'This public scrutiny did not identify any further issues, nor did it instigate any subsequent independent complaint to NSW Police or LECC.'
Lanyon said he was counselled by Fuller. 'The incident happened well over four years ago,' he told the Herald, in response to questions. I regret the circumstances and my behaviour was completely out of character. I immediately sought to apologise personally to the ambulance officers when I became aware I had been argumentative towards them.
'I have the greatest respect and admiration for all NSW Ambulance staff and they will always have my unwavering support.'
Rod Roberts was the MP who used parliamentary powers to demand the documents and get to the bottom of the incident, concerned that the full story was initially hidden from the public. Nevertheless, he backs Lanyon for the commissioner's job and says any questions about the handling of the incident should be Fuller's to answer, given he was the one who told estimates that it was a medical episode.
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'I think [Lanyon] is probably the ideal candidate,' he says. 'He has paid his penalty. If that incident had not been exposed, he would have been commissioner now. I haven't been made aware of any recurrence; in fact, he's been exemplary in his performance in the reconstruction authority. It's the past now, as untasteful as it was at the time. The embarrassment itself would be a massive punishment. He's copped it on the chin and put his head down.'
A spokeswoman for Minns said the government would not comment.