Detective Sergeant Terry Cosgrove gave evidence on Monday at the inquest into the presumed death of Jessica Small which is currently underway before deputy state coroner Sharon Freund.

Detective Sergeant Cosgrove said he was the officer who took the statement on October 29, 1997 from Kayla Brien, who had been followed by a man driving a vehicle which fitted the description of the car Jessica was abducted in.

The inquest had heard earlier that Kayla had to run from the man and hid in a bush before making it safely to her father’s house.

The incident was reported to police by Kayla’s mum Rhonda Griffin when she heard about Jessica’s abduction on the news, in the days after Jessica’s abduction.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Ian Bourke, told Detective Sergeant Cosgrove that Kayla’s mother reported a possible connection with the girl who had gone missing, but Detective Sergeant Cosgrove did not recall this.

He then asked Detective Sergeant Cosgrove if he took any information on the Jessica Small case, and he said: “Yes, later I did statements as tasked.” 

When asked by Mr Bourke if the information was passed onto the Jessica Small case, Detective Sergeant Cosgrove said: “It would have been passed on, yes.”

When asked about an entry on the police computer system that read no further investigation, with work priority given as the reason, Detective Sergeant Cosgrove said this meant there was no further investigation possible.

“There is no associated factor, no other factor we can determine to follow up lines of inquiry,” he said.

He went on to tell the inquest that once detectives take a job as far as they can, it is referred to the crime co-ordinator who determines what happens to the case next.

“If there is no further follow up it is finished,” he said.

Asked if there was anything to indicate the statement was then linked to the Jessica Small matter, Detective Sergeant Cosgrove said he would only be speculating.

Ms Freund then asked Detective Sergeant Cosgrove if the information he had taken would have been reported to the officers investigating the Jessica Small disappearance.

“There seems to be nothing on the [police reporting system] relating it to the Jessica Small case even though it has got so many boxes ticked,” she said.

Ms Freund continued, saying she presumed that in the days after Jessica disappeared the case would have been somewhat of a priority and the talk of the station.

“There should have been a light bulb moment, red lights or ‘hello’. Was there not a discussion about this?” she asked.

Detective Sergeant Cosgrove said he had no recollection of this.

Mr Bourke then told the inquest that Detective Sergeant Cosgrove took Kayle Brien’s statement on October 29 and entered in into the computer system on November 1, 1997.

On November 2, Detective Sergeant Cosgrove made three entries about the Small case, mentioning the Commodore and Jessica’s friend Vanessa Conlan.

Mr Bourke asked if he made a possible connection between the two entries made just one day apart?

“I can’t be sure,” Detective Sergeant Cosgrove said.

Mr Bourke: Can you be sure you passed information onto to the Jessica Small investigators?

Detective Sergeant Cosgrove: I would say yes on the basis of the car and incident.

Mr Bourke: If that had been done, wouldn’t have it been reported into the entry, eg information passed onto to Jessica Small investigators?

Detective Sergeant Cosgrove: It may have been a hard copy [of the statement] was given.

Mr Bourke then asked Detective Sergeant Cosgrove if it was the case that police were not taking the Jessica Small matter seriously in 1997?

“I can’t recall,” Detective Sergeant Cosgrove said.