Tyrone Sampson: Young Gold Coast crim tasered after using granny as ‘human shield’
A young Gold Coast man has been jailed after seizing an old lady in a “chokehold” when cornered by police. The incident, which also saw the defendant tasered, was captured on police body-worn camera.
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A young Gold Coast criminal has been jailed after seizing an elderly lady around the neck and using her as a “human shield” when cornered by police, the shocking incident captured on police body-worn camera.
Southport man Tyrone Kawaiti Sampson, 23, pleaded guilty in Southport Magistrates Court on Tuesday to serious assault of a person over the age of 60, obstructing police by way of serious assault, and wilful damage of police property.
The assaults occurred at Bauer St, Southport, at about 6.10pm on October 24 last year, while the damaging police property occurred three days later at Southport Watchhouse.
The court heard multiple police units were dispatched to an apartment complex on Bauer St in response to reports of a “group fighting” in one of the units.
Two constables witnessed Sampson drop an electric-scooter over a balcony railing at the complex and they made to approach him, but as they did Sampson seized an elderly woman, and placed her in a “rear chokehold” (the court accepted he did not apply any pressure to her neck).
“[This was an] apparent effort to use her as a human shield,” police prosecutor Rodney Keyte said.
When he released her after a few seconds and made to jump off the balcony, police tasered the defendant, and he fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.
Queensland Ambulance Service officers were forced to sedate Sampson to transport him to the Gold Coast University Hospital for treatment, the court heard.
Three days later, Sampson threw a temper tantrum when watch house officers refused to immediately agree to his request to go to the yard, and he spat on the police intercom before smashing a CCTV camera.
The court heard Sampson had been granted court-ordered parole just 13 days prior to his cowardly act at the unit complex.
That prior sentence is not due to expire until December 29 this year.
The current offending was also committed in breach of a probation order imposed by the Southport Magistrates Court.
Defence lawyer Brea Callaghan told the court her client, one of nine siblings, had a disrupted childhood, particularly after his mother’s death from leukaemia when he was a teenager, which meant he missed large chunks of school.
She said he had been “doing well” during the 116 days he has spent so far on remand, passing time by playing cards, going to the gym, and reading “spiritual-based books”.
Her client was “very remorseful” for his conduct, which he believed to have been touched off by a mental health episode (he has been diagnosed behind bars with ADHD and there are thoughts he may also have schizophrenia, although there has been no formal diagnosis).
Magistrate Steve Wettenhall said the assault would have been “terrifying” for the elderly victim.
“Most probably it would be an experience that she will never forget,” Magistrate Wettenhall added.
He sentenced Sampson to 10 months’ imprisonment cumulative on his existing sentence, but gave him immediate parole eligibility.
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Originally published as Tyrone Sampson: Young Gold Coast crim tasered after using granny as ‘human shield’
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