Detective Sergeant Graham Robinson collapses during Paul Medulla assault hearing

A highway patrol officer has now been found guilty of assaulting an Aboriginal teen after an alleged pursuit. An officer who led the investigation remains in hospital after collapsing at court.

Detective Sergeant Graham Robinson leaves Parramatta Local Court earlier this year.

A gighway patrol officer has been found guilty of assaulting a drug-affected Aboriginal teen accused of leading a pursuit by putting his foot on the back of his head.

Magistrate David Price said Constable Paul Medulla could not invoke reasonable use of force or self defence when he put his foot on the back of the child’s head on August 14 2022.

The teen had just been arrested after an almost two-hour pursuit in Seven Hills when police allege he had stolen a car while he was under the influence of ice.

Another officer’s bodyworn camera captured the moment Medulla accused the boy of trying to bite him before tapping the back of his head with his boot as the child lay on the ground restrained by other officers.

At the time, harrowing footage shows the child was screaming in some distress that he was sorry.

Highway Patrol senior constable Paul Medulla at Parramatta Local Court on November 27.

Medulla was found not guilty of assault causing actual bodily harm in respect of the teen, and further not guilty of assault causing actual bodily harm and common assault during the separate arrest of drunk driver William Cook at Bankstown on July 22 2022.

Mr Price described both incidents as “unedifying” and rejected expert evidence that Medulla’s actions in the August 2022 incident fell within what he was trained to do as a police officer.

“I can’t see how it was, in any way, shape of form necessary for the defendant to lower his foot to the back of the head of (the child) at that point in time," Mr Price said.

“The defence raises that (the child) had attempted to bite Medulla – even in that circumstance, given that his face was turned away, given that he wasn’t looking towards the body of Medulla, Medulla’s hand is nowhere near the face of (the child), this being a point in time where he was stood up, the prosecution has negated the defence of self defence.”

Medulla will be sentenced at Parramatta Local Court tomorrow after Mr Price said he was pondering a recorded conviction in the interest of deterring other police officers from engaging in this kind of conduct.

ESTEEMED EX-DETECTIVE COLLAPSES AT COURT

A former NSW Police detective has been rushed to hospital after collapsing during the case of a Highway Patrol officer charged with assaulting an alleged teen car thief and a drunk driver.

Ex-Detective Sergeant Graham Robinson was due to give evidence in the case of highway patrol officer Paul Medulla, who is defending multiple assault charges in relation to two separate arrests in Bankstown in July 2022 and August 2022.

Mr Robinson – who has since left the NSW Police Force but remains the officer in charge of the case due to his former role in the Professional Standards Unit – attended Parramatta Local Court for the hearing’s second day before he collapsed.

Detective Sergeant Graham Robinson leaves Parramatta Local Court. He is the officer in charge of investigating Senior Constable Paul Medulla, who was charged with assault.

The court heard he was rushed to Westmead Hospital, where his condition is currently unknown.

In a statement, a NSW Ambulance spokesman said paramedics attended the courthouse around 11am following reports a man had suffered a medical episode.

“Paramedics treated a man at the scene before transporting him to Westmead Hospital,” the spokesman said.

Westmead Hospital.

Mr Robinson had already given evidence before Magistrate David Price in respect of the August 2022 incident, in which Medulla is charged with assaulting an alleged teen car thief by tapping him on the back of the head with his boot in Seven Hills.

He was due to give further evidence today in respect of the July 2022 incident, in which Medulla is accused of kicking a drunk driver who had crashed into a car, a tree, the front home of a fence and then a water main in Bankstown.

The police officer strenuously denies all of the allegations.

Medulla's solicitor Paul McGirr told Mr Price that Mr Robinson had been taken to hospital and the hearing is currently continuing in his absence.

It is understood Mr Robinson had a lengthy and distinguished career with the NSW Police Force spanning decades before he retired from the force earlier this year.

THE HEARING

The hearing of allegations Highway Patrol Paul Medulla assaulted an alleged teen car thief and a drunk driver in two separate incidents has continued while Mr Robinson remains in hospital.

Medulla is defending multiple assault charges over two arrests he attended – one in Bankstown in July 2022 and another in Seven Hills in August 2022.

It is alleged Medulla assaulted an alleged teen car thief after he crashed a car and fled in Seven Hills in August last year by tapping him on the back of the head with his boot to effect “pain compliance”.

Evidence in that matter was heard at Parramatta Local Court on Monday, including from Mr Robinson.

He will now not be required to give evidence as he continues to receive medical treatment at Westmead Hospital.

Highway patrol senior constable Paul Medulla at Parramatta Local Court on November 27.

Medulla is further alleged to have assaulted a drunk driver who crashed into another car, a tree, a fence and then a water main in Bankstown in July 2022 by kicking him in the temple while he was handcuffed on the ground.

Evidence in that matter has been heard today, with one probationary constable from Bankstown Police Area Command saying she saw the officer kicking the driver in the mouth.

However, another probationary constable who has since left the NSW Police Force firmly asserted that he recalled a different officer – not Medulla – kicking the drunk driver.

The driver in question, William Cook, also took the stand before Magistrate David Price to give his account of the night in question.

He recounted being kicked in the temple and feeling his jaw dislocate or move out of place and said he was advised by nurses not to eat solid food for three weeks after his arrest.

“One of the officers pepper sprayed me because I was moving my head, that’s when he kicked me in the face,” Mr Cook told the court.

Parramatta Local Court.

“He said ‘stop spitting you little dog’ because when I got pepper sprayed it was in my mouth and I was turning my head and spitting, trying to get it out of my mouth.”

Phone footage recorded by a nearby resident was played in court, in which part of the exchange could be heard.

“Stop f--king spitting at me,” one male voice is heard to say.

“I didn’t f–king spit at you, I’ve got pepper spray in my mouth you f--king dog,” another male voice responds.

Mr Cook then told the court he was taken to Bankstown police station, where he asked an unidentified officer if he could go to the toilet.

“He said, ‘no, you’ve already s–t your pants, you might as well piss them as well’,” Mr Cook said.

Mr Cook was then placed in a cell, where he recounted “freaking out” because he is claustrophobic.

He then headbutted the perspex until he knocked himself out and woke up in hospital where he was being treated for his injuries.

Multiple officers agreed the scene itself was chaotic, as Mr Cook argued with his girlfriend at the time whose car he had crashed, water shot up into the air from the broken water main, and both police and onlookers swarmed the scene.

The hearing continues.