Patrick Mark HACKETT
Patrick Mark HACKETT
New South Wales Police Force
[alert_yellow]Regd. # 10548[/alert_yellow]
Rank: Probationary Constable – appointed 25 February 1963
Constable 1st Class – appointed 25 February 1968
1968 – Constable 1st Class ( Acting Inspector in Cyprus )
Stations: Warrants & Summons at Eastwood, Civilian Police Contingent – Cyprus – part of Australia’s 8th Contingent deployed in 1971.
Service: From Pre 25 February 1963 ( as a Trainee ) to 29 August 1971 = 8+ years Service
Awards: Police Overseas Service Medal – Clasp CYPRUS – granted 19 October 1992 posthumously
Dag Hammarskjold Medal – awarded posthumously
United Nations Service medal – posthumously
Born: 27 May 1940
Died on: Sunday 29 August 1971
Cause: Motor vehicle accident ( news paper indicates he may have been “blown up by a land mine” )
Event location: Stroumbi, Cyprus
Age: 31
Funeral date: ? – possibly 6 September 1971
Funeral location: ? – possibly Field of Mars, Cressy Rd, Ryde, NSW
Buried at: ? – possibly Portion: Anglican, Row: Gen Lawn 1, Plot: 558
[alert_green]PATRICK IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_green]
Constable Hackett was killed in Cyprus while on special duty in that country with the United Nations Civilian Police Force (UNCIVPOL). On the 29 August, 1971 he had driven to Episkopi and Paphos before setting out to return to Polis. Whilst negotiating a number of very sharp and dangerous hairpin bends, his vehicle left the roadway, crashed down an escarpment and overturned several times. Constable Hackett was killed instantly.
The constable was born in 1940 and joined the New South Wales Police Force on 25 February, 1963. At the time of his death he was attached to the Civilian Police Contingent in Cyprus.
The Age 1 September 1971 page 2 of 23
Canberra: An Australian policeman serving in Cyprus has been killed in a traffic accident. He was Constable Patrick Mark Hackett, of the NSW Police force.
In 1997 the Dags Hammarskjold Medal is established by the United Nations to honour those who lost their lives whilst on a UN peacekeeping mission.
The Sydney Morning Herald Tuesday 25 October 1988 page 12 of 64
POLICE KILLED OR WHO DIED FROM INJURIES RECEIVED IN THE EXECUTION OF THEIR DUTIES
On 13th August, 1971, Senior Constable William Edward King, who was then the officer-in-charge of police, East Gresford, was shot dead at East Gresford Police Station by a man who fired upon him with a rifle.
On 29th August, 1971, Constable 1st Class Patrick Mark Hackett died from injuries received in a motor accident at Polis, Cyprus, whilst performing duty with the New South Wales Police component of the Australian Police Contingent of the United Nations Peace Keeping Force.
On 30th September, 1971, Sergeant Second Class William Watson Riley and Senior Constable Maurice Raymond McDiarmid, both then attached to Blacktown Police Station, were shot dead in a house at Toongabbie which they had entered to arrest a man who a short time before had murdered his brother and raped a woman in the same house.
A police funeral with full ceremonial honours was accorded these deceased officers at which appropriate tributes were paid.
In recognition of their outstanding courage Sergeant Riley and Senior Constable McDiarmid were posthumously promoted by me to Sergeant 1st Class and Sergeant 3rd Class respectively. In addition, I submitted recommendations to the Premier for favour of consideration of Royal Awards being granted in both cases.
To assist the widows of the deceased police the Premier approved the payment to each of them of the sum of $12,500 as a gratuity. This payment did not in any way affect their entitlements to payments under the provisions of the Police Regulation (Superannuation) Act.
Report to the Police Department for 1971 – printed 7 September 1972
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