WATCH: Young boy grilled by police after watching family members die in floods
A grieving father is on a mission for answers, releasing a police interview with his young son who was grilled days after he watched his brother and mother drown in the unprecedented 2011 Queensland floods.
John Tyson believes his then 11-year-old son's 50-minute testimony was misconstrued by police to protect one of their own after his late partner was allegedly chastised during a triple-0 call.
Blake Rice was trapped on the roof of a car with his mother Donna and older brother Jordan, hit by raging water rising during Toowoomba floodwaters in January 2011.
Jordan told rescuers to take his brother first, who was saved, but he and his mother tragically drowned soon after.
He was awarded a posthumous award for bravery five years after his death, for sacrificing his life to save his little brother that day.
An October 2011 inquest heard intense rainfall caused flash flooding of a scale never before experienced before in Queensland's southeast.
Trapped in rising waters, Ms Rice called triple-0 but was chastised by Constable Jason Wheeler for driving through the floodwater.
A report found the mother had recklessly driven into the flooded intersection, but her partner of 30 years believes police misconstrued his young son's testimony relating to the level of water when the family began their drive.
During the emergency call, Constable Wheeler asked Ms Rice: "Why'd you drive through flooded waters?"
She responded: "Because it wasn't flooded when we were coming across."
The officer then asked: "So you're saying in the space of one second all the water came up?"
The inquest heard Constable Wheeler categorised Ms Rice's call as the lowest priority which meant the difference between life and death, The Weekend Australian reported.
Help only arrived after bystanders placed another triple-0 call 20 minutes later to report the family on top of their car. But when rescuers finally arrived, it was too late to save the trio.
Constable Wheeler told the inquiry he had received only a “couple of days here and there” of triple-0 call training when Ms Rice's call came in.
Mr Tyson told the newspaper his son's testimony, two weeks after he witnessed his mum and brother swept away by floods, was an attempt to gather information to detract attention from Constable Wheeler.
The father has released the footage he recorded six years ago during the interview in his quest for answers.
In the video, Blake can be heard telling the officer the water at the intersection "wasn't deep", but the officer reported it was "really deep."
“The water was, like, oh, not that deep but Mum was gonna turn back and Jordan said ‘keep going’ so she kept going,” Blake told the officer.
Mr Tyson claimed officers "chose to go on a version that they put together themselves".
The Toowoomba officer who answered the triple-0 call received disciplinary action, but wasn't suspended or stood aside.
