Another NSW thug cop

A SYDNEY riot squad officer has been accused of using a dangerous ''take down'' manoeuvre that seriously injured a Gold Coast property developer, and then falsely claiming the middle-aged man had swung at him with a clenched fist.

But Constable Jared Mildenhall told a Sydney court yesterday that he thought developer Richard Hamilton, 62, had just assaulted a taxi driver and feared he would be next.

Constable Mildenhall, 33, is facing allegations in the Downing Centre Local Court that late one night in December 2009, he used an ''arm bar take down manoeuvre'' on Mr Hamilton and threw him head first into a granite wall.

The riot squad officer allegedly followed up with a ''leg sweep'' that sent Mr Hamilton crashing to the ground with another officer on top of him.

Mr Hamilton suffered multiple rib fractures and head injuries in the incident, and has reportedly launched civil action against NSW Police.

Giving evidence before magistrate Janet Wahlquist yesterday, Constable Mildenhall said that on the night of the incident, a taxi driver had approached his vehicle near The Rocks and claimed that Mr Hamilton had just assaulted and racially vilified him.

He said Mr Hamilton had begun walking swiftly from the scene and he had given chase. ''I yelled: 'Stop, police!' … and then I came up behind and grabbed his left shoulder,'' he said. ''Almost immediately he's swung around … then I've seen his clenched fist extend and his arm come around in my direction … I feared I was going to be assaulted. I've moved my hand down and grabbed his left wrist … and commenced the arm bar take down.''

But the prosecutor, Andrew Wong, put it to Constable Mildenhall that he had not yelled ''stop police'' nor seen Mr Hamilton with a clenched fist, noting that neither of these alleged occurrences were recorded in his police notebook. ''The first mention of 'stop police' came four months after the events occurred, didn't it, Constable?'' he said. ''I'm suggesting that you included that in your statement four months later because you needed an excuse to justify what you did.''

Constable Mildenhall denied this. The prosecutor also suggested Constable Mildenhall had no justification for using the ''take down manoeuvre'', which he knew had a ''high risk of causing of causing injury''. ''You put the clenched fist [in your statement] because you knew that you would look better and to justify why you hit Mr Hamilton into the wall,'' Mr Wong said. Constable Mildenhall denied it.

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