Convicted drug trafficker Rhys Aaron Johns sues SA Police for $500,000 claiming he was injured during ‘forceful arrest’

A prison inmate has filed a $500,000 claim against the police who arrested him, claiming his CCTV footage shows the incident was too “forceful” to be legal. See the video.

A convicted $30,000 drug trafficker is suing SA Police for $500,000, claiming he was unlawfully assaulted 19 times – and his dog was pepper sprayed – during his “forceful arrest”.

Rhys Aaron Johns has told the District Court that CCTV footage proves he was pushed into a shed, repeatedly punched, struck with knees and a baton even once prone on the ground.

He further claims he was not resisting nor posing a threat at the time to police who, he alleges, neither arrested him nor charged him with a crime until after all 19 assaults.

SA Police have denied the allegations and say Rhys is not entitled to compensation – despite prosecutors agreeing, during his criminal case, he was “subjected to a forceful arrest”.

Convicted drug trafficker Rhys Johns is suing SA Police, claiming he sustained injuries in a “forceful arrest” that was recorded on CCTV. Picture: Facebook

Johns, 32, is serving a 5 ½-year prison term, having pleaded guilty to drug trafficking.

He and his former girlfriend, Jessica Alice Pitt, were caught with methamphetamine – 27g in the shed at, and 56g in a bumbag on the roof of, their Parafield Gardens home in 2021.

Johns, who had won $15,000 by gambling online and used it on drugs, was on home detention bail at the time.

When the couple were sentenced in January 2023, District Court Judge Liesl Kudelka noted Johns had sustained injuries during their arrest.

“The DPP agrees you were subject to a forceful arrest,” she said.

“You have sworn on oath you have significantly reduced vision in your left eye because of the injury you sustained to that area when you were arrested.

“You have lost 80 per cent vision in that eye … you have lost crucial centre vision … you found the arrest to be very frightening.”

Pitt’s sentence was suspended on condition of a three-year good behaviour bond – they are no longer a couple, and she is not a party to Johns’ lawsuit.

In his statement of claim, Johns says that, when police arrived, he threw the bumbag onto the roof and “surrendered and did not attempt to resist any arrest”.

He says he was “assaulted” by police “pushing him into a shed” and “attempting to punch him”, which “missed after he ducked”.

Johns claims the assaults continued with a second missed punch and, once he was “prone on the ground”, punches and knee strikes to the right-hand side of his face.

Johns with his co-offender and former girlfriend Jessica Alice Pitt, who received a suspended sentence and is not party to his lawsuit. Picture: Facebook

He further claims to have been assaulted in the right and left-hand sides of his stomach, the left side of his face, his lower back and the top of his head.

“An agent of (SA Police) assaulted (me) by striking (me) in the right side of the face with some form of baton or other weapon whilst (I) was lying prone on the ground,” he says.

“(I) was not advised by (police) that (I) was under arrest or charge with any crime prior to the assaults … therefore the assaults were unlawful.”

Johns says he sustained injuries to his eye, cheek, jaw, stomach and back, as well as psychological issues including post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression.

“As a consequence of the assaults, (I have) suffered and will continue to suffer pain, discomfort and residual disabilities,” he says.

He asks the court to award him aggravated and exemplary damages for his injuries and his “loss of a reduction in his earning capacity”.

In its defence papers, SA Police ask the case be dismissed and Johns be ordered to pay its court costs.

“SA Police denies each of the allegations contained in the claim and denies that (Johns) is entitled to any relief claimed, or any relief at all,” it says.

The case returns to court later this year.