Bigotry against trannies highly likely to have been involved. Cops do it hard in jail so big efforts will be made to get him off
A NSW police officer who violently assaulted a woman and then falsified evidence related to the event will spend at least 18 months behind bars.
Senior Constable Mark Follington unlawfully arrested Anya Bradford at a pub in Liverpool in Sydney's west in May 2019 while he and another officer were checking IDs as part of an anti-drug crackdown.
Ms Bradford, who was sitting in the gaming room, declined to show her identification and attempted to leave the premises.
CCTV footage played in court showed Follington grabbing Ms Bradford's arm and slamming her head into an ATM, before following her into the lobby of a parole office and continuing to attack her.
Another officer, Constable Mark Brown, used a pepper spray and taser on her.
Later that day, Follington lied in a police report, claiming that Ms Bradford had assaulted him. The CCTV footage contradicted his story.
He pleaded not guilty to two charges of common assault, one count of tampering with evidence with intent to mislead a judicial tribunal, acting with intent to pervert the course of justice and modifying restricted data, but was found guilty in May this year.
At the sentencing hearing at Sydney's Downing Centre on Wednesday, Magistrate Michael Crompton sentenced Follington to 30 months behind bars with a non-parole period of 18 months.
He said the crime of falsifying information "struck at the very heart of the criminal justice system" and warranted a sentence that would significantly deter others.
He described the assaults as "quite violent" and "in the mid-to-high range of objective seriousness for assault of that kind".
He said the crime was aggravated by Follington abusing his position of trust and authority and noted his not guilty pleas. "On the evidence before me there is no evidence of remorse," he said.
Ms Bradford was not present in court but In a victim impact statement said the assaults had left her mentally and emotionally scarred. "I spent a night in pain in a jail cell," the statement said, adding that she regularly experienced traumatic flashbacks and no longer trusted police.
His lawyer argued that Follington, who had been suspended from his role without pay, was likely to have a more arduous time behind bars than an ordinary citizen.
"Once a police officer goes into the four walls of any institution… history has shown that police officers, because of their position, are the subject of assaults, serious assaults", he said.
Follington's legal team confirmed he will appeal against the verdict
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-27/police-officer-mark-follington-jailed-over-pub-assault-of-woman/100572320
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