January 22, 2013

Police brutality being alleged at trial

By David Clarkson. Updated report.

Police will face allegations of brutality at the trial of two women charged after an early morning fracas outside the Woolston Tavern and its Club 604 nightclub.

The Christchurch District Court was told that the women?s clothing became ?displaced? during the struggle that followed the police ordering closing of the premises.

Defence counsel Chris Persson asked Judge Robert Murfitt for an order prohibiting ?reproduction or publication? of a video of the July 8 incident.

He said there had been considerable blogging on the case. He believed that if the video ?went viral on YouTube, the police will come in for a great deal of condemnation?.

He also objected to the police account of events later in the night at the Central Police Station, though police prosecutor Glenn Henderson said the events there clearly indicated that the women involved were more intoxicated than the defence suggested.

Mr Persson said the police had refused to disclose closed circuit footage from the police station. ?I don?t like using the term ?police brutality? but there are certainly indications from the photographs that that is what occurred at the Central Police Station.?

The two women charged have continued name suppression, and the police have also asked today for suppression of the names of the two arresting officers who will give evidence at the trial.

Mr Henderson asked for the suppression in view of allegations raised by the defence, which could lead to a further inquiry by the Independent Police Conduct Authority.

Mr Persson said: ?There were concerns about how the women were treated at the police station. Clearly that?s going to be a matter for the IPCA or another tribunal.?

One of the women, aged 21, is charged with assaulting, obstructing, and resisting the police. The other, aged 23, is charged with obstructing and resisting the police. They deny the charges.

Mr Henderson said the police had decided to close the premises about 1.30am on July 8 because of concerns about intoxication and disorder. Between 150 and 200 patrons were required to leave the premises and the carpark.

Rocks and bottles were thrown in the disorder that followed and police made several arrests including the two women, he said. One woman struggled with the polie and lifted her legs while she was being held, causing herself and two police to fall to the ground. ?During the struggle, her breasts have been to some degree exposed.?

The other woman had ignored police instructions, verbally abused the police, and swung several punches at an officer. He was struck around the arms and shoulders, but not hurt.

?She was taken to the ground by the officer, and her clothing became displaced.? She was then turned on her stomach, restrained, and handcuffed, he said.

Sergeant Anna Lloyd, who had made the decision to close the tavern, said it was decided to clear the licensed premises and clearing the carpark was a ?natural progression? because the group was being unco-operative, aggressive and making a nuisance.

Update:?Mr Persson questioned Sergeant Lloyd about the disorder that led to her decision to close the premises. He suggested that the people involved outside had come from another bar which had closed at 1pm. In his cross-examination, he challenged the validity of the closure decision.

Sergeant Lloyd said she was not aware at the time that a woman arrested had been handcuffed with her hands behind her back while her breasts were exposed. She had since heard that the women had made serious allegations of indecent assault.

Fifteen police witnesses will be called during the judge-alone trial which is expected to continue for several days.