Adelaide man who suffered broken leg during SA Police arrest secures $854,000 compensation

The Supreme Court of South Australia has upheld an $854,000 compensation payment for a man whose leg was broken as police arrested him more than seven years ago.

SA Police officers used capsicum spray and a "figure four leg lock" as they tried to arrest Matthew Charles Crossley on Bank Street in the Adelaide CBD in March 2013.

The leg lock manoeuvre, designed to restrain someone thrashing or kicking, left Mr Crossley's femur so badly broken that a 40-centimetre rod was inserted during surgery hours after the incident.

In February, the District Court ruled that the police officers had committed three acts of battery during the arrest and, in May, awarded Mr Crossley $700,000 in compensation for the "egregious" and "violent" arrest.

At the time, District Court Judge Sydney Tilmouth found the use of the leg lock to handcuff Mr Crossley was "unnecessary and excessive" because he was already restrained.

He added that Mr Crossley was entitled to resist the arrest because the officers' failure to explain their reasoning rendered it "unlawful".

More damages were added in July to bring the total to $854,313.

In an appeal to the Supreme Court, the State Government argued the officers had lawfully arrested Mr Crossley for disorderly behaviour.

Lawyers for the government argued that using pepper spray and the leg lock was lawful and justified in the circumstances.

But the court dismissed the appeal, on all grounds, in a judgement handed down this week.

In the reasons for the unanimous decision, Justice David Peek said the officers' actions "were unjustified and unlawful, irrespective of whether or not [Mr Crossley] had been properly informed as to the reason for his arrest".

"The judge was correct in finding that [Senior Constable] Lovell attempted to carry out a 'figure four leg lock' manoeuvre by applying his full body weight across the respondent's legs while bending and twisting his left leg at the knee and that this was inherently dangerous and unjustified," Justice Peek wrote.

An SA Police spokeswoman said it was "assessing the outcomes of the appeal and have no further comment to make".

In a hearing earlier this year, Mr Crossley said he used crutches for six months and a walking stick for a further three-to-four months after the injury but was otherwise left "basically bed-bound" most of the time.

He has suffered complications with the rod, walks with a limp and will require continued rehabilitation as part of his ongoing recovery.

Additionally, his treating psychiatrist said he experiences symptoms of PTSD, anxiety and depression.

Mr Crossley told the court he had not worked since the incident because he was "not physically capable".

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-25/man-secures-compensation-854000-broken-leg-police-arrest/13012778

NSW Police create a deadly incident

<i>News report below followed by some comments from a reader.  My reader did the smart thing.  He didn't run</i>

The family of an apprentice tradesman killed by a senior constable in Western Sydney has called for a royal commission into policing in New South Wales.

Bradley Balzan, 20, was walking to the shops at St Marys when four plain-clothed officers pulled up next to him in an unmarked car two days ago.

His grandmother Nola Balzan said one of the undercover officers asked, "What are you doing?" but failed to disclose he was with the police force.

"He ignored them, which, if you didn't know a person, you would ignore them — then they kept following him and he said something like 'I am sick of this, f-off' and he ran because he was scared," she said.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Jones said on Wednesday he was acting "suspiciously" but would not elaborate on his behaviour.

With four officers chasing after him, Bradley Balzan sprinted only a few hundred metres home and into his backyard on Acacia Street.

Nola Balzan said she believes he grabbed a shovel to defend himself before his pet dog bit one of the officers, sending him to hospital with minor injuries.

Police claim Bradley Balzan snatched the gun from one of two senior constables and fired "at least one shot" before one of them fired the deadly shot.

"Bradley has no criminal record — I think it was police brutality because everything that happened to him was terrifying," Nola Balzan said.

Bradley Balzan was treated by paramedics but died shortly after going into cardiac arrest while his father, Adam, was told to stay inside. "Even at that stage, the officers hadn't identified themselves as police," Nola Balzan said.

"Adam said, 'Is that my son?' and they said, 'We don't know' — Bradley doesn't drive so he doesn't have a licence with photo ID." "They ended up taking a photo and showing him, and it was Bradley's face with blood all over it so that's how he knew it was his son, which is absolutely crazy … it was traumatising."

Adam Balzan hasn't been able to return home since the tragedy on his backdoor step but told the ABC "police must be held accountable for their actions".

Nola Balzan said her son was "devastated". "They have only one child and now they have none," she said. "[Bradley] was handsome, he was cheeky, he made us laugh, he loved his family, he loved his pets, his friends and mountain biking."

An internal police investigation which will be carried out by homicide detectives promises to scrutinise the actions of the two senior constables before the findings are independently reviewed.

But Nola Balzan is calling for a royal commission style of inquiry into the state's police force following the shooting.

"Think before you shoot. There's pepper spray, which was used on Bradley, there's tasers that they are allowed to use which would have been a deterrent," she said.

"Shooting someone in the stomach is not shooting to stop, that's shooting to kill," she said.

Nola Balzan said Christmas used to be the one time of the year she looked forward to and when all eight of her grandchildren would come together under one roof.

"Christmas is now dead to us — I have cancelled our lunch, it doesn't feel right with Bradley not here — I don't know how we are going to come back from this," she said. "A good deal of people are going to be missing him."

Bradley Balzan was only a year into his apprenticeship as a tradesman and had recently started taking a course to become a barman.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-25/nsw-family-of-bradley-balzan-speak-for-the-first-time/13013146

<i>A reader writes:</i>

I too was once stopped by two out of uniform police who did not identify themselves as police. It frightened me too. 

I was in the bush on crown land up the back of where I lived, just sitting, contemplating things, which as you know, contemplation is a pastime of mine. 

Both men were armed with rifles. I presumed them to be deer hunters. One demanded of me, "What are you doing here?" I replied, "Nothing, just sitting." He repeated his demand several times, to which I made the same reply each time. 

His question was was not asked as an enquiring question, but as a demand for an answer. His eyes were piecing and his manner was very very assertive. And he gave no explanation of why he was challenging me; no introduction, no identification that he was police, nothing; he was just aggressive man with a rifle repeating a demand that I tell him what I am doing there. 

The second armed man stood several steps back, as if ready to back up his mate. I was very frightened. I thought I was going to be murdered. I felt that if I fled I would be shot, and if I moved I would be shot. 

Eventually they turned and left, both giving me a parting look as if they could kill me if they wanted to. 

At the time I frequently swam at a local pool, and one of the local policemen swam there too. While we both took a rest at the shallow end from swimming laps, I mentioned the incident to him. He told me not to worry about it, that they were just two off duty police doing some deer shooting up the back. 

That was no reassurance to me. Some men should not become police. If the story in this linked article is as described, that plain clothes police bailed up the young man without identifying themselves as police, then I can well appreciate his fear, and can understand why he ran. To then be chased, grappled and shot is tragic and criminal -- if that is the case.

Greenie exhibitionists let off lightly

<i>These egotists imposed huge costs and frustrations  on other people.  Time is money, among other things, and people who were forced to sit in their cars for extended periods were out of the productive workforce during that time.  They lost various sorts of productivity for no good reason and making up for that lost  productivity would often not be possible.

And that is not to take account of the stresses which were no doubt imposed on many busy people. Many drivers would have been working to tight time deadlines and being blocked from meeting those deadlines would have been very stressful.

It is surely the job of the police to remove such deliberate obstructions expeditiously and it is surely the job of the magistracy to impose on the offenders a penalty that reflects to some degree the frustrations they deliberately imposed on many innocent people.  As it was, both the police and the magistracy failed to do what was their bounden duty</i>

Two Extinction Rebellion protesters who held up inner-city Brisbane traffic for more than two hours earlier this month have been fined hundreds of dollars each.

However, serial protester Eric Serge Herbert, 21, and Wenzel Auch, 28, will not have to pay $917 restitution to the State fire service and their convictions have not been recorded.

The pair blocked traffic at the intersection of Edward and Queen Sts on December 7, from 7.15am to 9.25am, while protesting on top of a truck, Brisbane Magistrates Court heard.

Police, including the Special Emergency Response Team, Queensland Fire and Rescue Service and Queensland Ambulance Service, were called to the scene.

Herbert has just spent seven days in Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre, after he refused to sign a bail condition agreeing not to participate in any illegal protests while on bail.

Wenzel Auch, 28, who also refused to sign the bail condition, spent four days in custody, before being released on Friday.

The court heard the protesters appeared to have their arms locked in a metal pipe “sleeping dragon’’ device, while they stood on the truck during the protest.

However, after fire officers brought them to the ground and sawed through the pipe, it was revealed the pair were only held together with bulldog clips.

Herbert pleaded guilty to obstructing the path of a driver, contravening a police direction to move off the road, obstructing a police officer and refusing to state his full and correct name.

Police prosecutors asked for each man to be ordered to pay $917 restitution to QFRS.

Herbert objected, saying it should only be ordered if there was damage to property or injury to people.

“My conscience dictates that it is my duty to follow our ancestors and do peaceful civil disobedience when our lives are threatened by the government or its laws,’’ he said.

Magistrate Mark Nolan said he took into account Herbert’s early pleas of guilty and that he had voluntarily spent several days in custody.

Mr Nolan said everyone had the right to protest and make statements about their beliefs, but the law required everyone to abide by it.

He fined Herbert $600, and did not record a conviction. Mr Nolan refused to order restitution to QFRS, saying the paperwork was insufficient.

Auch pleaded guilty to causing an obstruction to drivers, contravening a police direction and obstructing police and was fined $500, with no conviction recorded.

When Auch told Magistrate Terry Quinn that he had not enjoyed making people angry by disrupting traffic, Mr Quinn said: “I disagree.’’ Mr Quinn said he had seen Auch looking around the court, looking very happy with himself.  “I have formed the opinion you are enjoying the limelight,’’ the magistrate told him.

Auch, who recently graduated with an environmental science degree, said he felt such a protest was a small impact on people’s lives compared to a catastrophic climate emergency.

Mr Quinn told Auch his protest could have prevented people, including pregnant women or doctors, from going to hospital.

While Herbert and Auch were in custody Extinction Rebellion staged a city protest on Thursday, which resulted in several arrests.

Auch said outside court he was released from prison at 1am the following day.

https://www.couriermail.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts/eric-herbert-and-wenzel-auch-fined-for-brisbane-cbd-protest-but-avoid-paying-compensation-to-fireys/news-story/db2dd9606bfe0da6574a69335a2693ed

Seven teens arrested after spate of armed robberies in Sydney

<i>No ethnicity given.  Had they been whites that would almost certainly have been said.  As it is, the group retreated to Redfern Station, a notorious  Aboriginal hangout. There is a high rate of criminality among young Aborigines</i>

Eight people, including two 13-year-olds and five other teens, have been charged after a spate of armed robberies in Sydney's CBD on Saturday morning.

"We're alleging they followed three people after they left Maccas on George Street and chased one of them down to Town Hall Station and robbed them there," a NSW Police spokeswoman said.

The first of the three robberies occurred at about 4am when a man was approached by a group, one of whom was allegedly armed with a knife. A man from the group demanded his phone before hitting him over the head with a bottle.

The injured man was treated by paramedics at the scene before being transferred to St Vincent's Hospital in a serious condition. The police spokeswoman said the man received stitches and was kept in hospital overnight for observation and was expected to be released on Sunday.

Shortly afterwards, a second man was allegedly threatened by the same group while travelling on a train from Town Hall to Central before his phone was stolen.

Then, a third man had his headphones stolen by the group at Central Station.

The robberies occurred over about 45 minutes.

Police from a high-visibility operation targeting street crime in the CBD found and arrested the group at Redfern Station about 6am. The group consisted of a 13-year-old boy and girl, two 14-year-old boys, a 16-year-old boy and girl, a 17-year-old boy and an 18-year-old woman.

Members of the group were charged with a range of crimes, including armed robbery, assault and theft. They were refused bail and will appear in Parramatta Bail Court on Sunday.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/seven-teens-arrested-after-spate-of-armed-robberies-in-sydney-s-cbd-20201213-p56mzn.html

Shameful police crookedness in the Northern Territory

<i>Concealing exculpatory evidence is a serious offence.  The cop concerned should be fired</i>

Indigenous man bailed after Darwin Local Court shown CCTV footage police said did not exist

An Indigenous man who spent more than 100 days in prison has been released on bail after a Darwin court heard CCTV footage shows he is not responsible for an assault he was charged over.

Police and prosecutors had both denied the footage existed, prompting the man's lawyer, Patrick McNally, to subpoena a copy from the casino.

Zarak Bolga, 44, was charged with aggravated assault and breaching a domestic violence order and then jailed on August 25 after his partner was assaulted outside Darwin's Mindil Beach Casino.

At a bail hearing on Thursday, Mr McNally tendered CCTV to the Darwin Local Court that he says shows an unidentified woman carried out the attack.

But in a November 23 email read to the court, prosecutor Lee Campbell told Mr McNally the incident was not captured on camera.   "There is no casino CCTV available. Their CCTV does not cover the area outside the casino and they wipe their footage every two weeks," the email read.

The court heard there had been two previous court orders, issued by Judge Greg Macdonald and Chief Judge Elizabeth Morris, compelling police to produce the footage.

"Numerous attempts were made to get the police to, I say, do their job and obtain this material — including orders by Judge Macdonald — which haven't been complied with, and further orders by Her Honour the Chief Judge as well," Mr McNally said.

"This is a matter where orders of the court have not been complied with and there's been attempts made by members of the police to, I say, defy orders of the court," Mr McNally said.

Constable summonsed to court

The court heard Mr Bolga went to Royal Darwin Hospital with the victim after the incident and was later arrested. He initially applied for bail in August but was refused.

Before CCTV of the assault was played to the court, Local Court Judge Michael Carey asked: "Does this footage show females attacking the victim?"

"It does, Your Honour," Mr McNally replied.

The court also heard that during his arrest, Mr Bolga told police: "I didn't do it. Get the CCTV at the casino; it'll show what happened".

Mr McNally requested the police officer in charge of the investigation, Constable Jessica Speckman, be summoned to the court on Monday to "explain how this matter has come so far, such that this man has been remanded since the 25th of August".

"I have very, very serious issues with the conduct of the investigation and the prosecution in this matter," Mr McNally said.

"The question is: is [Constable Speckman] lazy and did she not ask [for CCTV], or is she lying?"

Judge Carey suggested Constable Speckman may have been told by staff members at the casino that the CCTV did not exist.

Prosecutors did not speak at Mr Bolga's bail hearing on Thursday.

"Looks like the Crown case is in very serious trouble," Judge Carey said.

Constable Speckman was ordered to attend court to give evidence.

The case will return to court on Monday, December 7.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-04/man-bailed-after-darwin-court-shown-cctv-police-refused/12949660