SAPOL Senior Sergeant Removed and “Disappeared” Bullying Case Files of Russell Nash After His Suicide Death, States Witness Affidavit

However, according to a sworn affidavit submitted to the Coroner’s Court, those critical documents vanished just days after his death.

The inquest is currently examining the circumstances that led Sergeant and Band Master Russell Nash to take his life on December 24, 2021, with central focus on allegations of workplace bullying by his superiors.

Deputy Drum Major Senior Constable First Class Nigel Oaklands – who submitted the affidavit to court – said he worked alongside and was managed by Sgt Nash.

Russell Nash playing his first gig with the blues band. Picture: Supplied by family.

In his affidavit, Senior Constable Oaklands recalled warning Sgt Nash to be wary of his supervisors, particularly Chief Inspector Cameron Devey and Snr Sgt Neil Hodgson.

Devey is the nasty, bullying prick who was acknowledged in an internal police report as having contributed to Nash’s suicide. He quietly left SAPOL and now enjoys a highly paid role as deputy chief officer at the Metropolitan Fire Service.

In response, Sgt Nash revealed he was already preparing legal action.

“(Sgt Nash then) produced a very large document from a locked drawer under the desk to the right of the office chair as a submission to a solicitor, which PASA (Police Association of South Australia) had already provided him,” Senior Constable Oaklands wrote.

“The document would have had detailed information on Devey’s and Hodgson’s inappropriate behaviour toward Nash leading up to his suicide.”

However, less than two weeks after Sgt Nash died by suicide, the document disappeared.

Those allegations have not been tested and was not addressed during the hearings beyond the affidavit.

The discovery was made when Snr Sgt Hodgson asked Senior Constable Oaklands to help him search for Sgt Nash’s keys to retrieve a guitar.

The pair entered Sgt Nash’s office – which had been sealed with a sign instructing people to keep out – and Senior Constable Oaklands immediately noticed something was wrong.

The drawer containing Sgt Nash’s submissions against his superiors was unlocked and the legal document was missing. In its place was a yellow envelope containing cash and a set of keys, the affidavit detailed.

Recognising they were there to find keys, Senior Constable Oaklands picked them up and asked Hodgson: “Are these the keys we are looking for?”

But instead of testing the keys on Sgt Nash’s locker, Hodgson dismissed them, telling Senior Constable Oaklands not to worry about the keys before changing the subject to the cash, the affidavit read.

When Senior Constable Oaklands later alerted people about the unlocked drawer, he received an email claiming Hodgson had already told another officer he broke into the office before bringing Senior Constable Oaklands inside to search, his sworn document said.

Sergeant Russell Nash, took his own life in December 2021. Picture: Supplied

Upon closer inspection of the drawer, Senior Constable Oaklands formed the opinion that it had been “forced open”, noting “minor internal damage to the locking mechanism (but there was) no noticeable external damage to the lock”.

Consequently, Senior Constable Oaklands concluded that Snr Sgt Hodgson was behind the file’s disappearance, and had staged the search to use Senior Constable Oaklands as an alibi to establish that the drawer was unlocked when they entered, according to the submitted affidavit.

Senior Constable Oaklands said he included this information in his affidavit at the request of the investigator at the time, while Snr Sgt Hodgson – who officially retired from SA Police this year – was not asked about the vanished legal document.

The inquest is awaiting final legal submissions before the State Coroner delivers findings on Sgt Nash’s death and the circumstances surrounding it.

Source

Bullying case files of police sergeant Russell Nash disappeared from his office after death. The Adveriser, 2 August 2026