‘Dark day’: Police officer killed in crash had only been on force for 16 months
Tributes are flowing for 20-year-old police officer Mia Lay, who was killed early on Friday in a car crash in Sydney.
Lay and a 24-year-old male colleague, who was driving the marked police vehicle, were responding to reports of a car theft about 1.30am when the car hit a tree in the inner-city suburb of Redfern.
Mia Lay, a 20-year-old constable has been on the force 16 months before she was killed in a car crash while on duty. NSW Police
Lay was killed instantly.
Paramedics were called to the scene and treated the male officer before taking him to hospital in a stable condition with facial injuries.
Her death has left many in the community in shock, including MP Matt Thistlethwaite, who said “today a hero became an angel”.
“Our community is devastated by the loss of Constable Mia Lay in the line of duty. Mia is from our area and the Lay family are beautiful people,” Thistlethwaite said.
“Mia served our state with distinction and showed great bravery.
“She leaves a legacy of service and honour.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Mia’s family, rest in peace Mia.”
Her former school, St Andrew’s Catholic Primary School Malabar, said her “kindness and bright spirit touched everyone who knew her”.
“We hold Mia’s family in our hearts and remember her with love, gratitude and deep affection,” the school said.
The female constable was a passenger in a fully marked police vehicle travelling under lights and sirens along Gibbons Street, Redfern, when it crashed into a tree. Sam Mooy/SMH
MP Michael Daley said the state was “shocked and so saddened” by Lay’s sudden passing.
“Her family live in our area. So many of us know them well,” Daley said.
“They are just the most beautiful family and we’re all thinking of them at this terrible time.
“This is a reminder that our police put their lives on the line for us every day.”
Commissioner Mal Lanyon said Lay, who graduated from the police academy in May last year, showed “exceptional promise and was well-loved through the South Sydney Police Area Command”.
“To Mia’s parents, Mia’s family, friends and loves ones, our deepest thoughts, sympathies and condolences are with you,” Lanyon said.
“There is nothing I can say easily that takes the pain away but know that Mia was a loved police officer.
Yasmin Catley, Commissioner Mal Lanyon, and Acting Commissioner Dave Hudson. Jessica Hromas
“She would have been an outstanding police officer and to lose a life both in its prime and just at the infancy of becoming a police officer is a terrible tragedy.”
Lanyon held back tears as he delivered a message directly to the officer.
“To Mia, thank you for your courage, thank you for joining the NSW police force and thank you for serving the community of NSW,” he said.
“You will not be forgotten.”
The commissioner called it a “terribly difficult day”.
“As police officers, we understand the risk of what we do, we put our lives in the way for the safety of the community to prevent crime and to make sure the community is safe.
“Terribly, on some of those days, some police officers pay the ultimate sacrifice.”
Lanyon said the pair had been responding with lights and sirens to reports a car was being stolen in Glebe.
He said the investigation was under way and the circumstances of the crash were still unknown.
A crime scene has been set up and the crash has been declared a critical incident.
Police are seen taking pause in the gutter at the site of the fatal accident. Sam Mooy/SMH
The male officer driving the police car was taken to RPA Hospital, where he remained in stable condition with head injuries.
Lay’s aunt is attached to the state’s Crime Command, while 9News understands her boyfriend was also an officer on duty on Friday morning.
Police and Counter-Terrorism Minister Yasmin Catley said she had spoken with Lay’s parents, who said their daughter loved her job.
“It’s very lovely to know, I think, that this beautiful young woman loved what she was doing, but tragically she went to work yesterday and she didn’t go home and that is incredibly sad,” Catley said.
“We ask so much of our police and I often say it’s a job like no other but to not go home, to lose one of our precious colleagues, is a very, very sad and dark day.”
Police Association of NSW President Kevin Morton earlier did not identify the officer killed but said in the coming days it would “become apparent what a special young person they were”.
“We grieve with our members and commit to supporting their family into the future,” Morton said.
He said the death was “sad evidence of the dangers (police) face”.
“While most of us are asleep, our members are out all over the state looking for trouble,” he said.
Streets remain closed this morning as the police investigation is underway. Sam Mooy/SMH
“They face danger every shift and are dedicated to preserving the safety of their communities.”
He said it would be an emotional time for police and their families and if members of the public could “just say g’day” to police in the community, it would “make their day a little lighter”.
Premier Chris Minns said the news was “devastating”.
“My thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of the officer who has lost her life,” Minns said.
“Every day our police officers put themselves in harm’s way to keep the rest of us safe, and today the entire NSW Police family will be grieving.
“I’m also thinking of the officer injured in the crash and everyone who responded to this terrible scene.”
Anyone with relevant dashcam or mobile phone footage should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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