Simon Mareangareu wins appeal on assault charges
A Victorian police officer will walk from jail on appeal, after he was convicted of assaulting two teenagers during a routine stop.
Law & Order
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A police officer jailed for attacking a teen during an arrest then charging him with bogus offences has been released from prison after a successful appeal.
Simon Mareangareu was jailed for 12 months and fined $5000 after being convicted of common assault and attempting to pervert the course of justice over the Christmas Day 2014 incident.
But the Court of Appeal this week overturned those convictions and ordered acquittals of the charges, meaning Mr Mareangareu will not face a retrial.
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It found the jury couldn’t lawfully convict Mr Mareangareu of common assault as an alternative to a more serious charge and blamed a litany of errors on an unlawful conviction for attempting to pervert the course of justice.
In reasons handed down today the Court of Appeal found the jury, prosecution and trial judge each made errors that meant Mr Mareangareu’s convictions could not stand.
It found the jury’s was inconsistent in reaching its verdicts, prosecutors had run its case in a way contrary to law and the judge “made an unwarranted and prejudicial comment” to the jury.
The court noted that Mr Mareangareu had already served in excess of two-thirds of his sentence which it said was a significant factor in not permitting a retrial.
Mr Mareangareu — who previously had a spotless record and has saved the lives of three people — was charged with assaulting the teen during a routine interception in the early hours of Christmas Day 2014.
The teen’s friend recorded the intercept on his phone, but the footage was later deleted.
The two teens were then charged with minor drug offences and assaulting police, but alleged Mr Mareangareu had cooked up the charges based on a fraudulent brief of evidence.
During their arrest, one of the boys was told his hopes of going to university were over.
“You’re going to be carting sh-- for the rest of your life,” Mr Mareangareu’s partner said.
That officer was also charged over the incident but was acquitted of all charges.
Trial judge Jeanette Morrish described Mr Mareangareu’s conduct over the incident as “disgraceful and utterly abhorrent”.