Our client, Tim*, was at home with his family, in a small town in NSW, when police arrived to arrest him. Tim is an Aboriginal man, and he had done nothing wrong. What followed was a wrongful arrest.
The police officers believed he was breaching an apprehended violence order, he was not. A court had already sorted out the very issue the police were arresting him over. Our client’s family even tried to tell officers this.
Tim came to our expert civil lawyers for suing the police. We held the State of New South Wales to account for a wrongful arrest that should never have happened.
NSW Police Wrongful Arrest
An apprehended violence order (AVO) had been made naming our client. The problem was that the conditions recorded against him were inconsistent, and the person the order was meant to protect no longer lived at the address the police were relying on.
A magistrate had already looked at exactly this issue and confirmed our client was allowed to live at his home. This was the residence condition that police thought he was breaching had been removed in court.
None of that stopped what happened next.
The Wrongful Arrest
NSW police officers came to our client’s home and arrested him for the supposed breach. His family tried to explain that a magistrate had confirmed he could live there, however, the officers proceeded anyway.
Tim was searched, made to remove clothing, and placed in the back of a police paddy wagon. He was then driven a long way through the night, in the cold, to a police station.
When they reached the station, police made enquiries and realised their mistake. Rather than take him home, they drove our client only part of the way back and left him on the side of the road.
The Claim We Brought For Wrongful Arrest
We commenced civil proceedings against the state, which is legally responsible for the conduct of its police officers. The claim was for false imprisonment, assault and battery.
The heart of the case was that the arrest was unlawful. Under the law, an officer cannot lawfully arrest someone without a reasonable suspicion that they have committed an offence, and without the arrest being reasonably necessary. Neither test was met here.
As our client’s harm was to his liberty and dignity rather than a physical injury, we did not pursue a personal injury claim. We claimed aggravated and exemplary damages, which recognise conduct that is high-handed or shows a disregard for a person’s rights.
Our Approach To The Wrongful Arrest Case
We built the case on the documents. The court record showed the residence condition had already been deleted, and correspondence showed police had been told, more than once, that there was no valid breach.
That evidence let us show the arrest was not a genuine mistake made on reasonable grounds, but an arrest carried out despite clear information that our client was doing nothing unlawful. We set that failure squarely against the standard the law requires of police.
We pursued the matter firmly against the State, while keeping our client informed and shielded from a drawn-out fight he had not asked for.
When is an arrest unlawful? In New South Wales, police powers of arrest are governed by the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (LEPRA). An arrest generally requires the officer to hold a reasonable suspicion that a person has committed an offence, and to be satisfied the arrest is reasonably necessary. When those requirements are not met, the arrest can amount to false imprisonment.
The Outcome
The matter resolved at an early stage, with the State agreeing to compensate our client without the need for a full hearing.
For our client, an early resolution meant acknowledgement of what had been done to him, and the ability to move on without years of litigation hanging over him and his family.
You can also read more about suing the police for unlawful arrest, or see a related result in our case study on a wrongful arrest claim against the State of NSW.
Why This Matters In A Wrongful Arrest Case
Aboriginal people remain heavily over-represented in the New South Wales justice system. BOCSAR reported that, as of March 2024, Aboriginal people made up 30.8 per cent of the adult custody population in this state.
Against that backdrop, holding police accountable when an arrest is unlawful is not only about one person’s case. It is about the standard every person is entitled to expect.
Read more of our civil law case studies.
Been Wrongfully Arrested By Police?
If you have been arrested or detained by police and you believe it was unlawful, you may be able to claim compensation. Our civil team handles these matters against the State with care and complete confidentiality.
Request a free, no-obligation initial chat via the form below, or call us on (02) 9261 4281.
*We always change the names and other identifiable details in case studies to protect client privacy.
