ABLETT TELLS: I WAS SHAKING HER BUT SHE WOULDN'T WAKE UP

Gary Ablett's moment of truth came at 12.35pm yesterday. He downed a
cup of water, raised a Bible in his right hand and declared he would
tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about the
events in his Park Hyatt Hotel room that led to the suspected drug
overdose death of Geelong barmaid Alisha Keely Horan.

But on the advice of his lawyer, Phillip Dunn, QC, the former Geelong
football star was unable to tell the whole truth.

Senior Sergeant Ed Philip, assisting the coroner, had barely finished
his first question before Mr Dunn objected on the grounds that Mr
Ablett might incriminate himself.

Earlier, Mr Dunn had argued that Mr Ablett should be excused from
answering any questions. He said his answers about an associate,
alleged drug dealer Clayton Brown, and the drugs (including heroin)
found in Ms Horan's body "exposes Mr Ablett to the potential of
serious criminal charges".

Coroner Noreen Toohey, rejected the application, saying she would hear
Mr Dunn's objections question by question. Mr Ablett then looked
blankly at the court clerk as she read his police statement taken on
February 19 last year, the day after Ms Horan, 20, died.

In his statement, he said the day after checking into the Park Hyatt a
lunch had been arranged with owner Ted Lustig to discuss how Mr Ablett
might promote the hotel. Mr Ablett invited his "friend" Mr Brown to
the lunch.

Afterwards, he went back to his room with Mr Brown, where they had a
few beers and waited for Ms Horan to return from shopping. That
evening they went for a meal at the Montague Hotel.

On the way, Mr Ablett said Ms Horan told him: "'I'm a bit out of it.
I've taken a couple of green somethings'. I don't know exactly what
she called them, but it may have been green Mitsubishis. I'm aware
that these are ecstasy tablets."

Later he noticed she was "struggling" but she assured him she was all
right.

After moving on to a Chapel Street cafe, Mr Ablett, who was "quite
drunk", did not feel comfortable being seen publicly in such a state
and decided to take Ms Horan back to the Park Hyatt.

"I had the staggers and the last thing I remember is trying to sit on
the bed. I missed and fell on the floor ... the next thing I remember
is waking up ... I saw Alisha on the floor, with her head on her arm,
facing away from the bed ...

"I noticed she didn't seem to be breathing well. I pulled her eyelids
back and saw that her eyes had rolled back. I was yelling and shaking
her but she wouldn't wake up and I knew something was wrong. I laid
her on the bed on her back. I rang the operator and said, 'Could you
please get an ambulance to this room' ... I was just panicking."

Before the ambulance arrived, her breathing stopped. He gave "three
bumps" on her chest and blew into her mouth. She started breathing
again. After the ambulance paramedics failed to resuscitate Ms Horan,
the manager demanded he leave the hotel.

Four of Sergeant Philip's first five questions to Mr Ablett, about Mr
Brown and any discussions Mr Ablett had with Ms Horan about drugs,
were ruled out after objections by Mr Dunn.

The lawyer representing the Horan family, John Smallwood, QC, then
cross-examined Mr Ablett, citing other witnesses who described Ms
Horan's condition at the Montague as "really wasted". He asked Mr
Ablett if he was concerned this might be because of the pills she had
taken. "Yeah, it would have crossed my mind," replied Mr Ablett in a
soft voice. He had continually asked if she felt all right and she had
indicated she was OK.

Mr Smallwood said other witnesses did not describe Mr Ablett as having been
so affected by alcohol he would have fallen unconscious within minutes of
returning to his room. Mr Ablett: "I hadn't had a lot of sleep in about five
days. I was very tired."Mr Smallwood: "Was your collapse on the floor due to
taking substances?" Mr Dunn: "I object." Mr Smallwood: "Were you taking
substances at the same time as Alisha?" Mr Dunn: "I object." Mr Smallwood:
"Did you collapse at the same time?" Mr Dunn: "I object."

The final witness, the officer in charge of the investigation,
Detective Senior Constable Tom Nairn, said Mr Ablett and Ms Horan had
been on a "bender" for five days preceding her death. This mainly
involved alcohol, "but it would appear (Ms Horan also) took a quantity
of illicit drugs", which she believed to be ecstasy.

Detective Nairn said he believed Mr Ablett had also taken drugs. When
interviewed, he had refused on legal advice to answer whether he had
taken drugs. "Although Alisha had no real history of illicit drug use,
it appears that her infatuation with Mr Ablett caused her to ignore
any inhibitions she may have had in relation to this issue," Detective
Nairn said.

By the time Mr Ablett attempted to wake and resuscitate Ms Horan "it
was already too late and she had suffered irreparable brain damage".
Detective Nairn said he was disappointed by Mr Ablett's refusal to
discuss his involvement in the drug use that caused Ms Horan's death.
He accepted Mr Ablett had been concerned about Ms Horan's welfare and
"greatly upset" by her death. Detective Nairn criticised the
"deliberate and indifferent refusal" by Mr Brown and his girlfriend,
Emmie Osawa, to assist the investigation.