Sydney farewells Constable Mia Lay, killed while on duty

A service at St Andrew’s Cathedral honoured the 20-year-old officer, who died on September 25 when a police patrol car struck a tree in Redfern.

A funeral for New South Wales police constable Mia Lay was held at St Andrew’s Cathedral in central Sydney on October 7. Lay was 20 and had served as an officer for less than 18 months.

She died in the early hours of September 25 when the police patrol car she was travelling in collided with a tree in Redfern, in the city’s inner south. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Lay graduated from the police academy in Goulburn last May and had been stationed at Redfern since then.

Colleagues remembered her as a passionate and promising young officer who was valued by officers in the South Sydney area command. Her father, Clem Lay, had earlier told the newspaper he wanted as many people as possible to remember his daughter for as long as possible.