Suing Police For Assault: Compensation Secured After a NSW Police Officer Assaulted a Handcuffed Client and Switched Off the Camera
Our client was already handcuffed and compliant when a senior constable grabbed him by the neck, forced his face to the ground, and pinned him with full body weight.
Suddenly, the police officer deactivated his colleague’s body-worn camera and wrote false records claiming our client had been yelling and resisting. We sued the State of New South Wales on behalf of our client, securing a confidential settlement that held it to account for its officer’s conduct.
The Background: Suing Police For Assault
Our client was a young Aboriginal man from a regional coastal community in NSW. One day, he was stopped by NSW police while driving.
He briefly ran from the car but voluntarily returned the moment he saw his friends being detained. Our client was charged with driving while unlicensed and possessing a prohibited drug, and he was granted conditional bail that evening.
However, when officers used force, our client was already handcuffed, compliant. He posed no threat.
NSW Police Offer Assaulted Handcuffed Man
A senior constable took hold of our client’s neck with both hands, forced his face into the ground, and restrained him using his full body weight. He then deliberately switched off his colleague’s body-worn camera, and afterwards created false police records, claiming our client had been yelling and resisting, and stating that the camera had switched off because of rain.
The conduct was not only an unlawful use of force, but an attempt to conceal that force and to construct a record that justified it.
Civil Claim After Criminal Charges:
Suing Police For Assault
The officer was charged with common assault and with perverting the course of justice. Those charges were ultimately dismissed under Section 14(1)(a) of the Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020.
It’s important to note that criminal outcomes and civil claims are separate matters. Our firm handles both. In this case, the dismissal of the charges did not prevent our client from pursuing compensation for the harm done to him. Therefore, he came to our firm for representation.
Read our other civil law case studies.
Our Approach: Filing Civil Proceedings
We commenced civil proceedings in the District Court of New South Wales against the State of New South Wales. The claim was built on several pillars:
– Assault, battery and false imprisonment by the NSW police officer. We pleaded assault and battery, and false imprisonment, relying on the limits placed on police powers.
– Misfeasance in public office. The deactivated camera and the false records went to the heart of this claim: an officer misusing the authority of his office and then attempting to cover it up.
– Vicarious liability of the State. Under sections 6 and 8 of the Law Reform (Vicarious Liability) Act 1983 (NSW), the State can be held responsible for the wrongful acts of a serving police officer committed in connection with their role.
– Aggravated and exemplary damages. The deliberate concealment and the abuse of authority supported a claim for damages beyond ordinary compensation.
The Outcome
In the end, the matter settled on confidential terms in our client’s favour. The resolution required the State to answer for force used on a handcuffed man by one of its own officers, and for the attempt to hide it.
Suing Police For Assault
If you have been assaulted or unlawfully detained by police, you may be entitled to compensation from the State, separately from any criminal proceedings, and separately from whether any charges against the officer succeed or fail.
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