Inquiry launched after SA Police officer was filmed punching Aboriginal man Noel Henry during arrest in Kilburn
SA Police has launched an internal investigation after footage emerged of Aboriginal man Noel Henry being struck during an arrest at Kilburn. Police say they suspected him of carrying drugs.
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An urgent internal investigation is under way to determine whether police used excessive force during the arrest of an Aboriginal man, after dramatic footage emerged of an officer punching the man several times while detaining him in Adelaide’s inner north.
The footage shows two officers pinning Noel Henry, 28, to the kerb on a Kilburn driveway on Monday night, before one of them is heard yelling “get on the f...ing ground” and appearing to strike Mr Henry.
Other officers then move in to help with the arrest, while distressed bystanders shout “let his head up” and “get off his head”.
One officer then hits the prone man with a flurry of blows, causing the bystanders to react with outrage and fury.
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said the officers involved were now on administrative duties while an internal investigation, led by a “very senior officer”, was under way.
“I’ve learned over significant experience that I need to wait and look at the full circumstances before I form a view of rights and wrongs,” he said.
Police say officers were responding to a “high-risk domestic violence matter” on Albert St, Kilburn, when they saw Mr Henry riding his bicycle about 8.15pm on Monday.
Officers suspected Mr Henry was in possession of illicit drugs and “he was asked to place his hands on his head while a search of his person was undertaken”, SA Police said.
“The man originally was compliant and after a short time he began to refuse. Defensive spray was deployed and other police arrived.”
The SA Police statement said, during the altercation, one of the officers’ body cameras was grabbed and “only parts of the camera” have since been found.
Mr Stevens said vision from other body cameras will be examined and that “the microscope is on policing” across the globe after the death of black man George Floyd in Minneapolis last month.
Albert St resident Emma Perteira – who started filming the incident when Mr Henry was “getting tackled” by two officers – said he was a friend who lives nearby.
“He’s like part of our family, he’s lived in Kilburn for all his life,” she told The Advertiser.
Ms Perteira said it was shocking to see the officer “lay into him with physically closed fists” and deploy pepper spray.
“His head was pinned to the cement and he was not moving, so it didn’t really warrant a punch in the ribs,” she said.
“After I saw (Mr Henry) when everything had settled down, he was handcuffed and sat on the kerb. I rang the ambulance because he was bleeding and had a couple of bruises. I rang them twice in 20 minutes and they didn’t come.”
One officer suffered minor injuries during the incident.
Mr Henry spent the night at Port Adelaide Police Station after being charged with hinder police, resist police and property damage.
He was released from custody on Tuesday morning and Mr Stevens said “there are no existing charges pending” but Mr Henry could be charged again after an investigation.
Acting as his caseworker, Latoya Rule, whose brother Wayne Morrison died in custody four years ago, said he was “snuck out the back door” just after 10am on Tuesday without receiving medical treatment.
“You won’t see the cuts on his face, arms, legs, you won’t see the state he was in,” she said.
Mr Stevens said Mr Henry declined medical assistance and was escorted to an address of his choosing.
Police Association president Mark Carroll said it was important not to judge the officers until the investigation was complete.
Police officers are allowed to use “reasonable force” to secure an arrest, conduct a search or take and protect forensic evidence.
Craig Caldicott, co-chair of the Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee, said: “Reasonable force is what an objective observer would consider reasonable in all the circumstances,” he said.
“There is no fine line between reasonable and excessive force. It comes down to what that observer thinks was reasonably necessary to make that arrest.”
Premier Steven Marshall said the footage was confronting and concerning.
“I was very concerned when I saw it. I spoke with the Police Commissioner, he’s taking the matter very seriously.
“We hope to have some answers very soon,” he told ABC Radio Adelaide.
Less than two weeks ago, more than 5000 people rallied in Victoria Square in support of the global Black Lives Matter movement, which was sparked by police violence towards minority groups in the United States.
-With Ben Harvy and Mitch Mott