Brothers walk free after court rules police arrest was illegal

It was supposed to be a straightforward arrest but when it ended in a struggle and a man being Tasered, it was the police who found themselves in trouble — and taxpayers footing the bill. WATCH THE VIDEO.

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It was supposed to be a straightforward arrest but when it ended in a struggle and a man being Tasered, it was the police who found themselves in trouble with the courts — and taxpayers footing the bill.

Brothers Darcy and Riley Allan had been facing assault charges, as well as charges of resisting arrest and hindering police.

But, by the time the court case ended on Monday, all the charges had been dismissed and the police actions criticised by the state’s Deputy Chief Magistrate Michael Allen, who ordered the taxpayers pay the brothers’ legal costs of $22,000.

Magistrate Allen found the arrest was illegal and video of the brothers being arrested at their Bowenfels home was tendered at Lithgow Court.

Riley Allan was ordered out of the house after he intervened while they were arresting his brother. Picture: Supplied

Darcy Allan was Tasered during the incident. Picture: Supplied

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The vision, filmed on a mobile phone, shows Riley yelling: “Get out!” and “This is my house, what are you doing?” while the police officer arresting him, Hayley Partington, shouts: “Get on the f...ing ground and f...ing stay there, c..t”.

After one of the of the three arresting officers yells: “Put your hands behind your f...ing back!”, Riley cries: “I can’t, you’re laying on me!”

The officers had ordered Riley out of the house after he intervened while they were arresting Darcy, who was Tasered during the arrest.

Darcy and Riley were charged with resisting and hindering the three police, who also included senior constables Philip O’Brien and Philip Wells, during the incident on October 28 2017, court documents said.

A still of the mobile phone footage.

Magistrate Allen found that the police illegally entered the brothers’ property and told the court: “I thought these days were long gone in the police”.

Police originally alleged the brothers had been involved in a punch-up earlier in the evening at Lithgow’s Grand Central Hotel with another man. By the time police arrived at the brothers’ home to charge them with common assault it was 90 minutes after the fight and the man had gone to his home in another town.

Given that, Magistrate Allen found there was no risk of further offending and told the court the officers could have used alternatives to physically arresting the brothers.

The police officers involved in the incident have been criticised for their heavy handed actions in the incident.

“There … were a multitude of perfectly reasonable … avenues for the police to adopt…,” Magistrate Allen told the court.

“Things such as a court attendance notice, things such as perhaps leaving a message or asking him to attend the police station the next day … were available.”

The Allans’ lawyer Paul McGirr told the court that, in giving evidence, the police had been found to be “singing from the same hymn sheet” when giving evidence about the arrest.

But Mr McGirr said the video showed the officers as the aggressors in that they were shouting and swearing aggressively when Riley was telling police he was trying to put his hands behind his back.

Originally published as Brothers walk free after court rules police arrest was illegal