New commission recommends assault charges for officer who beat naked teen

A NSW cop used excessive force when he beat a naked 16-year-old boy in Byron Bay and should be considered for criminal charges, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission has found.

A NSW cop used grossly excessive force when he beat a naked 16-year-old boy with a baton in Byron Bay and should be considered for criminal charges, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission has found.

It’s the first time the state’s newly-formed body has recommended the state contemplate prosecuting an officer and it found three separate investigations where police had engaged in serious misconduct.

The commission has ruled that the use of ‘multiple baton strikes’ during the January arrest in Bryon Bay was excessive force. Picture: Video still

Mobile phone footage captured the child screaming out for help as he was pinned to the ground by four uniformed police officers in a dimly lit laneway in January, where he was pepper sprayed and tasered.

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The commission found one cop inflicted at least 19 baton strikes on the drug-affected boy, known as AO, after he’d refused to leave the area near a Nomad’s Backpacker Hostel in the early hours of January 11.

Following an inquiry the LECC on Thursday found Officer E should be considered for prosecution for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

“Officer E’s use of force was unreasonable, deliberate, grossly excessive and significant beyond a mere error of judgment in the agony of the moment,” the report found.

The commission said that although the unarmed teen was behaving in a highly irrational fashion officers made little attempt to talk him down and acted aggressively from the outset.

One cop called the boy a “c***” and another deployed capsicum spray within 30 seconds.

“Even when he was, as it were, under “attack” … he never either threatened or attempted to strike any officer,” the report said.

None of the four officers involved in the incident were identified during the hearing. Picture: Video still

The boy suffered extensive bruising and likely a fractured rib at the hands of the cops and Officer E’s “shocking” blows continued after he was restrained, handcuffed and placed into a paddy wagon.

The hearing was the first of its kind since the LECC was formed to replace the Police Integrity Commission.

It also found that a leading senior constable engaged in serious misconduct when he punched a drunk woman while her hands were handcuffed behind her back and then shared the footage on Snapchat.

The cop used unreasonable force when he belted her in the head at a Sydney police station last September and recorded CCTV footage of the incident to his phone to send to colleagues, the LECC said.

And the commission found three other officers engaged in serious misconduct after another drunk and handcuffed woman was dragged face down along the garage floor of a Sydney police station in April 2016.

The commission heard that the officers were in ‘unpleasant’ situation of needing to move along a teenager who appeared to suffer from mental illness. Picture: Video still

That woman’s assault charges were subsequently dismissed with a magistrate flagging concern about the inconsistency between the cops’ evidence and CCTV footage.

The police union says drugs and alcohol were involved in all three cases, posing dangerous challenges for the officers involved.

“It is very simple in the cold light of day and with hindsight to judge the actions of our members but police officers make decisions in violent incidents in a split second,” NSW Police Association President Tony King said.

“The recommendations will now be reviewed by the Commissioner and the ODPP where we will ensure our members are afforded a fair and proper investigation.”

NSW Police have refused to comment about whether any of the officers are still on active duty or have been suspended with or without pay.