Townsville school student with cerebral palsy tasered by police

The actions of police have been questioned after it was revealed a 16-year-old girl with cerebral palsy had been tasered.

THE actions of police have been questioned after it was revealed a 16-year-old girl with cerebral palsy was tasered at a Townsville school.

She was tasered by police after allegedly smashing school property and lunging at an officer with a cricket bat.

The teen’s mother is now demanding answers, saying she cannot fathom why police acted the way they did when her daughter has significant physical limitations and suffers seizures.

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The mother told ABC North Queensland she was angry with how her daughter was treated.

“She said that they tasered her twice, they had her handcuffed to the bed,” she said.

“She’s got cerebral palsy, she has seizures, and she’s only got the use of one hand and she’s not very good on her legs, so why taser her?”

The mother learned what had happened after a child safety officer called to advise her daughter was in hospital.

The woman assumed it was because her daughter suffered a seizure but was shocked when told she had been tasered. The teenager has since been discharged from hospital.

The Queensland Police Service, in a statement, alleged the girl had been damaging property and also lunged at an officer.

“A 16-year-old girl has sustained minor injuries after being subject to a taser deployment at an educational facility in Mundingburra,” police said.

The mother said her daughter suffered bruises to her stomach.

Police have been questioned over the use of a taser.

Child Protection Investigation Unit officer-in-charge Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Miles confirmed a review into the use of force would take place.

Sen-Sgt Miles said the review was mandatory and would begin “very early” into the investigation.

He said senior officers would be required to assess the review findings before the investigation progressed further.

Inclusive education expert Professor Linda Graham, of the Queensland University of Technology, said the Queensland Police Service had left many questions unanswered, including why officers, who deal with people in heightened situations all the time, had not been taught de-escalation strategies.

“There are critical pieces of information that the public needs to know … the police can’t expect the public to accept what’s happened here without answering some of these questions,” she said.

“(Such as) if the school didn’t call them, why were they going to her at her school … couldn’t they have found some other place to visit this girl?”

Police have said they had gone to the school to speak with the girl on other matters, though what exactly has not been specified.

The incident comes nearly three months after a Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with a Disability held its first ever four-day hearing in Townsville, centred on the “very real and pervasive issues” faced by students with disabilities in the education system.

In October 2019, an 11-year-old girl was tasered after she allegedly stabbed a teacher at a Townsville primary school.

Critical care paramedics treated the 56-year-old female teacher for chest and shoulder injuries at the school.

Both the teacher and student were taken to the Townsville University Hospital.

Originally published as Townsville school student with cerebral palsy tasered by police