Woman who pushed over a police officer at Melbourne Cup has been charged

SARAH Finn, who shot to notoriety as the Melbourne Cup’s “blue dress woman”, has apologised. But her friends seem amused by the situation.

THE woman who pushed over a senior police officer in full view of television cameras is reticent over the attention she’s received, issuing an apology for her actions.

Sarah Finn told Seven News: “My level of intoxication is no excuse.”

“I deeply apologise for my actions. I acknowledge a massive error in judgement on my behalf.”

The 25-year-old sent Acting Superintendent Steven Cooper flying backwards into a flower bed after the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse, and will be charged with assaulting police.

The woman earlier appeared to be revelling in the national attention, posting a new profile picture to her Facebook account on Wednesday afternoon of herself seated on a police motorcycle holding four packets of chips.

The photo appears to have been taken at Flemington, because she is in the same short blue dress she was wearing when the incident occurred.

The woman who pushed over a policeman at the races has updated her Facebook profile pic to this.

Her friends seemed amused by the update, with one posting “You are a funny lady!” and another writing “That cop would have been loving it”.

On Tuesday, Acting Supt Cooper had been about to speak to media about the behaviour of the 94,000 strong crowd when the woman approached him.

After he fell she turned around and giggled and seemed surprised when she was quickly led away by officers.

She was seen chatting to members of the media just before the incident and Acting Supt Cooper said he believed she had made comments along the lines of “what do I have to do to get on the news?”.

The woman posted a message on Channel 7’s Facebook page saying: “You guys forgot to mention that you told me to do it.”

“She wanted her five minutes of fame and got it,” he told Melbourne radio station 3AW this morning.

However Seven News cameraman James Paul has denied she was told to do it. “No, no one said unequivocally go and push a police superintendent in the chest that will be a grand idea — no one at all said that at any point of time.”

Aside from having his glasses broken, Acting Supt Cooper wasn’t injured.

At first, he thought the woman was a reporter and wondered what she wanted. “Very odd behaviour. She walked up to me and I thought ‘what’s she doing, is she just come over say hello or something ... Clearly not,” he told Channel 7.

He didn’t speak to her but the colleague who interviewed her indicated she wasn’t affected by alcohol.

“She’ll be charged with assault and damage because during the push she broke a pair of glasses.”

A Victoria Police spokeswoman confirmed to news.com.au the woman would get a summons to appear in court on a charge of assaulting police.

Acting Superintendent Steven Cooper was left on his back in the garden.

Acting Supt Cooper said he was “copping it from all my mates” after the clip went viral.

“I certainly don’t condone the behaviour but I see why (it’s got so much attention).”

He said it was at least a “soft fall”.

Finn became the sixth person to be evicted from the crowd. The others were for trespass, being drunk or anti-social behaviour.

As news.com.au reported yesterday, the fans at Flemington really let loose towards the end of the day. Sometimes the revelry can take an ugly turn, leaving the nation in a state of cultural cringe.

By 4.30pm, before the final race for the day had kicked off, a violent punch-up had broken out in front of the stands in the general admission section, with several men and a few women involved in the brawl. One man had blood streaming from his head as he was restrained by an officer.

A fight breaks out at the Melbourne Cup. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Racegoers look on as the scuffle continues. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

The nasty scuffle, which had to be broken up by up to 10 police officers, was captured on camera by news.com.au and reveals just how rough things can get when racegoers have been drinking in the sun since 10am.

Most involved in the fight were swiftly ejected by security guards, who worked quickly to maintain order.

Drunk, but unquestionably more peaceful, were the hordes of punters passed out among the cigarette butts, broken plastic cups and discarded clothing items. One young woman leaving The Birdcage stumbled into a bush and had to be retrieved by a bemused girlfriend.

Time for a rest. Picture: news.com.au

The wheels start to fall off the Melbourne Cup cart. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Plastered at the Ponies!

Staff members were already working quickly to clean the debris, but they were fighting an uphill battle against the thousands of seagulls, who got the hot tip on the leftovers and descended upon Flemington to feast.

The Cup 2015: What you don’t see on TV

Of course, the crowd chaos did occur against a much more positive backdrop, with Michelle Payne becoming the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup. She did it on 100/1 outsider Prince of Penzance.

On a day full of questionable behaviour, Payne was a model of maturity. She used her victory to hit out against sexism in the racing industry.

“Racing is a very male dominated sport,” she said at the victory presentation, clearly alluding to the fact that many owners believe male jockeys are stronger.

“But you know what? It’s not all about strength. It’s about getting a horse into a rhythm for you. It’s being patient.”

“It is such a chauvinistic sport,” she said. “Some of the owners wanted to kick me off the horse, but I thought he had what it takes to run a race in the Melbourne Cup.”

She then reserved a classic Aussie insult for those who thought she might have performed her job more effectively if she had a deep voice and a bulge in her pants: “Get stuffed”.

Originally published as Woman who pushed over a police officer at Melbourne Cup has been charged