Guard allegedly choked, put teenage girl in headlock in fiery courtroom outburst

A teenage girl is suing the state government after a Bendigo court security guard allegedly left her with a fractured wrist and nerve damage after choking her and pulling her hair following a fiery courtroom exchange.

A court security guard allegedly left a traumatised teenage girl with a fractured wrist and nerve damage after choking her and pulling her hair while removing her from a heated courtroom exchange.

Alana Gavin claimed she still has nightmares about being violently dragged out of the Bendigo Magistrates’ Court on December 7 2022 – where she was giving evidence in a personal matter – when she was 17 years old.

Ms Gavin, now 19, has demanded that the G4S security guard be charged as she launches legal action against the security company and the government department Court Services Victoria – which contracted them to patrol the courts.

“The security guard just walked up and just grabbed me by the throat,” she told the Herald Sun.

“I’ve never experienced something so confrontational in my whole life … I was just screaming and crying.

Alana Gavin says she still has nightmares about the alleged attack.

“Even once we were walking, he’s just grabbed me by my hair … I was already handcuffed, there was nothing I could do.

“I could not believe it. I thought it was something that happens in movies – my wrist has never fully healed properly.”

In a writ filed with the County Court, Ms Gavin claimed the incident unfolded after a magistrate ordered that she be removed from the courtroom because she interrupted proceedings to correct a statement made by another witness.

Ms Gavin claimed the security guard then grabbed her by the neck and put her in a headlock that lifted her off the ground as she cried out: “Get off my neck, I can’t breathe” – ignoring pleas from another female officer to intervene because the male guard was “hurting her”.

An X-ray of Alana’s fractured wrist.

She was then allegedly handcuffed and shoved down the stairs outside the court before shocked witnesses were ordered to delete footage that captured the ordeal.

As a result, Ms Gavin allegedly suffered a fractured left wrist, nerve damage in her right hand and back and neck injuries.

She said she has been left traumatised by the alleged incident, which forced her to change jobs and retreat from people.

“They need to pay for what they’ve done,” she said.

“The people who were there meant to be protecting me – they were the ones who ended up hurting me.”

Abrasions on Ms Gavin’s hand sustained as a result of the alleged incident. Picture: Supplied

Red marks on Ms Gavin’s neck.

Ms Gavin alleged that Court Services Victoria should have protected her from the heavy handed security guard, who she claimed used excessive force against her.

She is seeking damages for her injuries and the income she allegedly lost as a result of not being able to work regularly after the courtroom confrontation.

Ms Gavin’s lawyer Kayla Cox of Shine Lawyers said: “There was absolutely no need for the security guard to manhandle a 17 year old girl in the way which has been alleged”.

“Alana was a vulnerable young girl in an already highly stressful situation and the guard’s alleged conduct has had a profoundly detrimental impact on her life.”

Specific details about Alana’s court proceeding cannot be published.

Court Services Victoria and G4S declined to comment because the matter was before the courts.

G4S is a private security company contracted by the government to run and patrol several state facilities, such as Port Phillip Prison.