NSW Police ‘clutching at straws’ over alleged vehicle stop assault: court

A man was getting his six-week-old puppies vaccinated at the vet when he was viciously attacked by a police officer, a court has been told.

A man was left with devastating injuries after a trip to the vet to vaccinate four purebred puppies was interrupted by a jujitsu-trained police officer who dealt two damaging blows to his kidneys before throwing him to the ground, a court has been told.

Brett Armstrong is suing NSW Police in a civil claim over the alleged assault during a vehicle stop in southwest Sydney on March 16, 2016, which he says left him with seven broken ribs and significant spinal damage. The police officer was never charged over the alleged assault.

“My whole body just started to tremble from the impact of being slammed into the gutter,” Mr Armstrong told the NSW Supreme Court on Monday.

“I felt the most excruciating pain in my neck and my back.”

His barrister Philip Beale said two senior constables took a “gigantic leap of almost supernatural suspicion” when they concluded Mr Armstrong and his neighbour Shaun Davoodi might be armed with weapons and heading from the vet clinic to a nearby funeral where a “small war” could erupt between rival bikie groups the Finks and the Rebels.

“In what mind would it occur that the people with the puppies, having driven up a long road and commenced to drive back down the same road with the four puppies in the car, were … loitering in the vicinity of the funeral?” Mr Beale said.

He accused NSW Police of “clutching at straws” before questioning if “deadly puppies” were among the suspected weapons.

NSW Police is ‘clutching at straws’ in trying to justify an alleged assault on a man during a vehicle stop, a court has been told. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Mr Armstrong, a breeder of blue English staffy dogs, and Mr Davoodi, who was driving, were pulled over for a random breathalyser test en route to the vet, the court was told.

Mr Beale said a police radar allegedly pinged the car as one potentially belonging to a suspected drug dealer and member of the Rebels, and the two men noticed a black police 4WD following them after the RBT.

They arrived at the clinic and spent about an hour inside, leaving with inoculated puppies and vaccination certificates in tow, before turning back the same way they came, the court was told.

A short time later, the car was pulled over by Senior Constable Samuel Kanard, who has since left the force, and his partner Senior Constable Grant.

Mr Davoodi was breathalysed again before he and Mr Armstrong were ordered out of the car for a vehicle search.

Mr Armstrong began to film on his iPhone, continuing to do so after Mr Kanard told him “put the phone down for me Jimmy”, Mr Beale said.

The officer ordered the two men to turn around and put their arms above their head and they complied, Mr Armstrong still recording and holding his phone, the court was told.

Mr Beale said Mr Kanard, “in a rage” about being disobeyed, then walked over to Mr Armstrong “without a word” and allegedly assaulted him.

It is alleged Mr Kanard dealt two blows to Mr Armstrong’s kidneys, breaking seven ribs, then threw him to the ground in a “back slam”, injuring his spinal cord.

Mr Armstrong landed on his upper back and neck, and was left with his arms and legs “twitching”, Mr Beale told the court.

The punches were “delivered by a martial arts expert, specifically in jujitsu”, the barrister said.

After about 15 minutes, the two men were allowed to leave, the officers having located nothing of interest in the car.

Mr Armstrong told the court that he complained to Mr Kanard that the officer had hurt him and he “pretty much laughed it off and asked if I was a man or a mouse”.

“My breathing was very shallow,” Mr Armstrong said.

“I had sharp pains in my neck and back. I had tears in my eyes … I said (to Mr Davoodi) ‘You’ve got to take me to the doctor’s man, something’s wrong’.”

At one point, Mr Armstrong broke down in tears as he recalled the incident, apologising for becoming overwhelmed.

Mr Beale said police would argue Mr Armstrong’s silver iPhone was considered in the moment to be a metal object and potential weapon, a contention he labelled “utterly preposterous”.

In brief opening remarks, NSW Police lawyer Lachlan Gyles said Mr Kanard was not at fault.

“We say the use of the force was reasonable in the circumstances having regard to the threat which presented itself to Senior Constable Kanard at the time,” he said.

Mr Gyles also said Mr Armstrong had given “inconsistent” accounts of his neck problems and it would be questioned whether his injuries were connected to the vehicle stop.

Mr Kanard has been subpoenaed to give evidence but is seeking to be excused, with a doctor’s certificate saying testifying would be “detrimental to his mental state”.

Justice David Davies is expected to rule on whether the officer must take the stand on Tuesday morning.

The hearing continues.

Originally published as NSW Police ‘clutching at straws’ over alleged vehicle stop assault: court