The New South Wales police commissioner refused to leave Channel Seven’s Sunrise studio on Tuesday because she feared one of the network’s news teams was about to be ambushed outside.
Webb, who had just finished a brutal interview with Natalie Barr in which he downplayed concerns about his leadership by quoting Taylor Swift’s line “haters gonna hate,” then refused to come out.
“If you want any indication of a police commissioner under siege, Karen Webb stayed in the Sunrise studio today for up to 10 minutes, refusing to leave, saying she wouldn’t be ambushed by our team,” said journalist Robert Ovadia.
Ovadia and a camera crew were waiting outside Seven’s headquarters in Eveleigh, in inner Sydney, to speak to Webb. A second production source confirmed the development to Daily Mail Australia.
A NSW Police spokeswoman said: “It was the Commissioner’s media team who informed Channel Seven that the Commissioner had other media interviews scheduled and needed to leave Eveleigh to fulfill those commitments, and a meeting with the Mardi Gras meeting at 10 a.m.
The development comes amid a storm of criticism over the police chief’s approach to the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.
Beaumont Lamarre-Condon, 28, is behind bars after being accused of murdering former Ten reporter Jesse Baird, 26, and Luke Davies, 29, in Sydney on February 19.
Investigators allege Lamarre-Condon’s crimes followed a months-long campaign of “predatory behavior” that culminated in the fatal double shooting.
Webb was confronted by Barr and her co-host Matt Shirvington after they accused her of “hiding” during the week-long investigation.
He referenced a Taylor Swift lyric when he told the hosts, “There will always be haters.” Haters like to hate. Isn’t that what Taylor says?
‘I have a job to do. It’s a great job. This is just one of many. In fact, we had seven murders last week. But this, of course, is a complex matter. All we have to do now is find Jesse and Luke.
Sunrise presenter Nat Barr confronted Karen Webb following the murder of a gay couple in Sydney.
‘He has been criticized for his lack of public presence regarding this matter. I only heard from you three days after the fact,” Shirvington said.
‘Why was that the case?’
Mrs Webb replied: ‘It was very much a live investigation. The officer turned himself in on Friday. He was not charged and will appear in court in the afternoon. I got up yesterday. I issued a statement on Sunday.
‘I’ve been in other things, I have a large organization and a budget of 5 billion dollars that manages 22,000 people.
“The good thing about being a commissioner and a leader is having great people around you,” Mrs Webb continued.
‘I have a great executive. I have a great team. And everyone has a role to play. I let them do their job and they do it well.’
But Barr was not impressed by his response.
‘Commissioner, it’s about leading. You mentioned that you are the leader. And no matter how busy you are, you have a police officer supposedly involved in this.
‘Do you have three days to talk about a crime that has affected this nation, particularly this city? Come on.’
“The investigation is still ongoing, it is very complex,” responded the police chief.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb has been criticized for only speaking publicly about the Baird and Davies murders three days after the fact.
Detectives are still searching for the bodies of missing Sydney couple Mr Davies and Mr Baird.
Barr continued to question Ms. Webb, asking her if she should have spoken publicly sooner.
‘It is not necessary to condemn anyone. Standing there, talking and being human, was it a mistake not to? She continued.
Webb responded: “What I did on Sunday was talk to Jesse’s family. What I did yesterday was talk to Luke’s family.
“I want you to know that we are doing everything we can to find Jesse and Luke.”
Barr asked the commissioner if she had a message for her critics.
‘Like I said, haters are going to hate. I have the confidence of the Minister and the Prime Minister and I have a job to do and really, as I said, the important thing… It’s really about these families. Not just families, friends and the gay community who wonder what happened here.
‘And that’s my job, to make sure that the Homicide Squad investigators, the detectives who run this, provide answers. We’re all looking for the answers.’
It comes after Webb, who has a salary of $679,050, was criticized for remaining inactive during a news conference about the alleged double murder on Monday.
Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson answered questions about the investigation for more than half an hour, while Webb spoke for only 12 minutes, primarily answering questions about his delay in speaking publicly about the case.
He told reporters that questions about his leadership were “offensive.”
Beaumont Lamarre has been charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of Jesse Baird, 26, and Luke Davies, 29.
Webb was also forced to apologize after calling the alleged double murders a “crime of passion”, saying she had not intended to offend anyone.
“I certainly didn’t mean to offend anyone… it was a crime not motivated by gay hate, but let’s be clear, it’s obvious, and we’ll allege that this is domestic violence, stalking and definitely murder,” he said.
Similar accusations were leveled at the commissioner in May last year after she said it was “not necessary” for her to watch body camera footage of Clare Nowland, 95, being Tasered by a police officer. in his retirement home.
Police are still searching for the bodies of Davies and Baird as several crime scenes have been established across Sydney, as well as in the north and south of the city.
Deputy Commissioner Hudson revealed on Monday that a triple-0 call was made from Mr Baird’s phone minutes after the shots were heard, but was disconnected.
He indicated that some of Lamarre-Condon’s actions in the weeks following her breakup with Mr. Baird could be described as “predatory behavior.”
Police believe the couple’s relationship had “ended badly”, but such worrying behavior was not formally reported at the time.
“We believe the defendant had attended Jesse’s home,” Mr Hudson said.
‘We believe he had used a key to enter those facilities. We believe she took possession of Jesse’s phone and deleted contacts and messages from that phone before leaving the facility.