Coroner rules quicker police response would have prevented North Queensland stabbing deaths

Dean Webber feared for his life when he stabbed Thomas Davy and Corey Christensen, the Coroner found. (Supplied)

A coroner has found the stabbing deaths of two men at a home in north Queensland in 2018 could have been prevented had police responded to the matter earlier.

Deputy State Coroner Jane Bentley handed down her inquest findings on the matter in Southport on Wednesday.

The inquest found that Thomas Davy died from blood loss from stab wounds and Corey Christensen died from a stab wound to the chest. 

Their wounds were inflicted by Dean Webber at a property in Alva Beach, north-east of Ayr.

Mr Webber, who was 19 at the time, was not charged over the stabbing deaths, with police ruling he acted in self-defence. 

Davy and Christensen had been socialising with Louis Bengoa and Candice Locke earlier that night. 

Ms Locke later knocked on Mr Webber's door, saying she had been injured after falling from a buggy driven by Mr Bengoa.

At the time, Mr Webber told police that three people forced entry into the house through a sliding door and began assaulting him.

Corey Christensen (L) and Tom Davy (R), who were fatally stabbed in 2018 at Alva Beach near Townsville. (Supplied: Facebook)

At 12:39am, Mr Webber sent a text message to a friend saying: 'I'm about to die holy f*** I don't know what to do".

Mr Webber said he did everything he could to protect himself because one of them "was going to kill me".

In her findings, Coroner Bentley said she found that the deaths of Christensen and Davy would have been prevented had police officers or Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) personnel arrived at the house prior to the two men entering the house.

The only other task being managed by officers at Ayr Police Station at the time was an objection to bail affidavit in relation to a person in watch house custody.

Ethical Standards review 'inadequate'

Coroner Bentley said that Queensland Police Service (QPS) officers were aware of the Alva Beach incident some 30 minutes before the stabbing.

A Police Ethical Standards Command investigation had concluded that the emergency response by police was consistent with authorised policies, practices and procedures. 

However, Coroner Bentley dismissed that conclusion:

It was the QAS who initially notified police of the incident and classified the job as "urgent", assigning paramedics who were parked nearby to await police attendance.

However, the callout was rated as non-urgent by the police communications centre in Townsville.