Queensland police tasered disabled Indigenous teen at her school

Police tasered an Aboriginal girl with cerebral palsy and an intellectual disability until she lost consciousness, then handcuffed and shackled her.

Tiejwana McLennan.

Police tasered an Aboriginal girl with cerebral palsy and an intellectual disability until she lost consciousness, then handcuffed and shackled her after she ­refused to be interviewed alone over allegations she had been abused.

Tiejwana McLennan – who also has epilepsy, visual impairment and paralysis of her right hand – was 16 when she was called to the principal’s office at Townsville Community Learning Centre in February 2020 and met by two police officers from the Child Protection Investigation Unit.

What happened next is now the subject of a racial and disability discrimination lawsuit, filed this month in the Federal Court, after Queensland Police refused to admit any wrongdoing in their treatment of the teenage girl.

According to interviews and legal documents, obtained by The Weekend Australian, the then Year 11 student was an ­alleged victim of child abuse, which is still under investigation, when she was summoned over the public address system to the principal’s office. There was no warning the two plainclothes ­officers, a male senior constable and a female senior constable, were coming to the school.

Tiejwana, described as having the intellectual capacity of a Year 2 or 3 student at the time, was not offered a support person before the police officers began questioning her about the child abuse allegations. She was known by the school and carers as prone to walk away or become verbally aggressive when “overwhelmed” in a situation.

It is not contested she refused to answer police questions and ran from the principal’s office into the schoolyard where she picked up a plastic Kanga cricket bat and started hitting the windows of a classroom, and later a rail. Staff tried to calm Tiejwana, who repeatedly told police to “f..k off, go away’’. She eventually dropped the bat. Her behavioural support teacher stepped in, talking with her before the pair walked to the teacher’s office.

As police followed, the schoolgirl went into the office alone and tried to close the door behind her. The male officer blocked the door with his foot as Tiejwana kept trying to shut the door. The male officer later claimed he was concerned she would gain access to items that could be used as a weapon against police or staff or for self-harm. He pushed back on the door, telling her she was not ­allowed in the room alone and warned that he would use his taser, which he had already drawn from his holster.

Police have said the male officer pushed open the door and she “lunged” towards him. He then tasered her. According to documents filed to support the court action, he tasered Tiejwana twice, causing her to lose consciousness.

Tiejwana was then handcuffed. She told her lawyers she believes her feet were tied as she had to shuffle into an ambulance that took her to hospital. Her mother, Robyn, was called and when Tiejwana was picked up, she was still handcuffed to a bed. The school suspended her for five days.

Police conducted an internal review of the incident, which has not been released. It is understood to have cleared the officers.

According to the Federal Court action, Tiejwana had bruising to her abdomen, “began experiencing drop-seizures on most days” since being tasered, and is suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Federal Court action was filed against police and the special needs school after an attempt at mediation failed in the Australian Human Rights Commission. In a statement, Robyn Craig, said she couldn’t believe police would taser a disabled girl. Since then, Robyn has been a full-time carer because of an increase in the number and severity of her daughter’s seizures. “They can’t get away with what they did to Tiejwana – she is a South Sea islander and Aboriginal girl with disabilities,’’ she said.

The family are represented by Shine Lawyers’ Tristan Gaven and barrister Joshua Creamer, who took over from a community legal centre after police threw a team of lawyers at the case. “Given Tiejwana’s challenges, the officers should never have shown up at her school unannounced,’’ Mr Gaven said. “They were supposed to be investigating a complaint on Tiejwana’s behalf but instead subjected her to brutality. Rather than discipline the officers … the Queensland Police Service is diverting immense resources to defend their actions.”

The lawsuit is seeking more than $700,000 in compensation and damages.

The Queensland Police Service said: “The incident … has been investigated. The matter is now finalised. As the matter is subject to legal proceedings, we are unable to comment further.”

Mr Gaven said Ms Craig had made a complaint to the Crime and Corruption Commission, which referred it to the Queensland Police Service’s Ethical Standards Command for investigation. The police investigation concluded that officers had acted “lawfully and reasonably”. The CCC reviewed the findings and told Ms Craig her complaints were not substantiated.

An Education Department spokesman said: “The safety of students and staff is the department’s highest priority and it takes any incident involving harm extremely seriously. As this matter is before the courts, the department is unable to make any further comment.”

Mr Gaven said Tiejwana and her mother had wanted her to be identified and supplied a photograph for publication.