Cop facing assault charge over altercation with transgender woman
A senior police officer is accused of assaulting a transgender woman and manufacturing the case against her after an altercation at a bar in Sydney’s west. Initially, Anya Bradford was accused of assaulting police but the tables have since turned.
NSW
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A senior constable and a transgender woman with a history of bad interactions with police meet at a bar. What allegedly happens next doesn’t bode well for either.
Anya Bradford, who identifies as a woman, got into a scuffle with police outside the Golden Fleece Hotel in Liverpool last May.
Bradford was initially accused of assaulting police and Liverpool Senior Constable Mark Anthony Follington allegedly came up with a detailed statement of facts to prove it.
But the tables have since turned with the officer now the one accused of assaulting Bradford and manufacturing the case against her.
Sen Cons Follington, whose employment status is under review, had his first day in court last week, charged with common assault, intending to pervert the course of justice and tampering with evidence.
The allegation is Bradford was in Liverpool to see her parole officer and had stopped into a local pub. There was a run-in with police — Bradford claimed she was asked for identification and ran off — and she was arrested and accused of assaulting an officer.
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It then took a six-month Professional Standards Command investigation to discover the case against Bradford had allegedly been made up.
Sen Cons Follington, 60, allegedly falsified police records relating to Bradford’s arrest and prepared a fictitious fact sheet to “prevent the course of justice”, court documents showed.
MONTE’S MONEY
It’s been seven years since Frank Monte was ordered to pay NSW Police $84,000 following a failed bid to get his private investigator licence back. Maybe he was hoping the order would simply go away the longer he ignored it.
How wrong he was.
NSW Police are now preparing to bankrupt him. And it wouldn’t be the first time if they’re successful.
Famed fashion dynasty, the Versace family, successfully sued him for falsely claiming to have intimate knowledge about the late Gianni Versace, and the Mafia links to his murder, in his book. Monte was ordered to pay them $400,000.
When he failed to cough up after the 2002 judgment, he was bankrupted.
He could soon have to add dual bankruptee to the long list of credentials — former detective, ex-chief of Dubai security force, film producer — on to his Facebook page.
In 2012, NSW Police knocked back Monte’s application for a private investigator’s licence. Monte appealed.
He withdrew that application midway through the case but the court ordered him to pay the police costs anyway.
In 2013, the bill was a cool $84,973. But after seven years and an attempt in the District Court to force Monte’s hand, the bill is now $137,408.56.
A bankruptcy hearing is set down for March in the Federal Court.
TROY’S BIG SCORE
Former Police and Emergency Services Minister Troy Grant has landed on his feet with a new gig at the International Rugby League Federation.
As flagged by our sister column, The Sauce, in December, ex-deputy premier Mr Grant was interviewed in Auckland late last year for a role on the board.
He missed out on the top job but was this month appointed deputy chair.
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