Tamba Gborie pleads not guilty to assaulting three cops in Fortitude Valley brawl

A Brisbane man accused of assaulting three policemen during a brawl beside a cab rank in Fortitude Valley will argue that he was acting in self defence when he punched the officers.

A Brisbane man accused of assaulting three policemen during a brawl beside a cab rank in Fortitude Valley will argue that he was acting in self defence when he punched the officers.

Tamba Gborie, 25, is on trial in the Brisbane District Court after pleading not guilty to choking one policeman and punching and biting two others in the nightclub precinct on June 9, 2019.

During the first day of the trial, one of the alleged victim’s Constable Nicholas Guy told the jury that he was called to the disturbance on Wickham Street just after midnight.

Const. Guy said when he arrived on the scene he saw Mr Gborie’s friend acting aggressively by “waving his hands around yelling at taxi rank supervisor”.

Tamba Gborie pleaded not guilty to five counts of assault.

Const. Guy gave evidence that he told the pair to “get up there” onto the sidewalk away from the traffic, but when he tried to move Mr Gborie away, he started pushing back.

“He was using force against me, so he was obstructing me, so I told him that he was under arrest,” he said.

“I then moved him around to the front of the cab and placed him face down with the intention of handcuffing him.”

Const. Guy said that as he and senior sergeant Dean Magarry tried to apply the handcuffs, Mr Gborie punched him in the face.

Mr Gborie then allegedly tackled snr sgt Magarry to the ground, punching him and biting him on the finger until he was tasered.

“I’ve used a closed hand strike to the right-hand side of the face of the defendant as he was still struggling violently, it was only a strike of minor force,” const. Guy said.

“He continued to struggle, broke free and launched himself at senior constable (Dustin) Osborne.

“He then bit down and latched himself onto him snr const. Osborne who I heard yelling in pain.”

The court heard that the officers eventually restrained Mr Gborie who was taken to Brisbane Watchhouse.

During his opening statement, barrister Eoin Mac Giolla Ri questioned whether const. Guy was operating on a reasonable belief that an offence had been committed or on a “push first ask questions later” basis.

“Essentially the issue is … whether Nicholas Guy was entitled to arrest my client at the time he did,” Mr Mac Giolla Ri said.

“Even if (he was), was the amount of force used by police after that point in time reasonable?

“The consequences of … touching him without permission or using beyond reasonable force is that police have no lawful basis for touching him and he can act in self defence.”

During cross-examination, barrister Eoin Mac Giolla Ri suggested const. Guy’s response was an over-reaction and that he should have de-escalated the situation.

Const. Guy rejected any suggestion that he overreacted and said he did attempt to de-escalate the situation but was concerned about the group being so close to traffic on the road.

“There’s always the option to communicate and de-escalate, however I did not have that option in this circumstance,” he said.

Mr Gborie has pleaded not guilty to five counts of seriously assaulting a police officer.

The trial continues before Judge Michael Burnett.