Raiders boss Don Furner incredulous at Curtis Scott treatment

Canberra chief executive Don Furner is glad he backed his player rather than police after Curtis Scott was cleared of seven charges.

Canberra Raiders centre Curtis Scott arrives at the Downing Centre court in Sydney. Picture: Joel Carrett

Canberra chief executive Don Furner is glad he listened to Curtis Scott’s lawyer rather than the police. He is relieved that he ignored the statement of claim and backed a footballer who was only new to Canberra, but within months the subject of police charges.

Those charges went away on Thursday after a court in Sydney was shown graphic images of Scott being pepper-sprayed and tasered by police.

The footage was damning. Not for Scott, but for the heavy-handed police who were forced to drop five charges and then had the residual charges dismissed.

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Scott walked out of court a vindicated man. Earlier, he walked out of the courtroom when the footage was about to be played. He had no desire to watch it again.

Furner never saw the footage, instead relying on the advice of Scott’s lawyer Sam Macedone and the NRL integrity unit when the club made the decision to back the centre earlier this year.

Former NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg, having been shown some of the footage by police, called Furner at the time to say he shouldn’t be overly concerned.

Prophetic words from the former NRL boss. The concern now resides with the police, who may yet be forced to pay Scott’s six-figure legal costs.

“I feel sorry for him,” Furner said. “From a CEO’s point of view, I read the statement of claim. The statement of claim compared to the vision was chalk and cheese and I can’t believe the police department would do that.

“It’s very disappointing that they would. The statement of claim I read was fanciful compared to the vision.”

The NRL integrity unit is expected to review the case but it seems highly unlikely they will take any action against Scott. Their view is likely to align with that of magistrate Jennifer Giles, who said that being capsicum sprayed while being handcuffed was worse than anything she could do.

There was immense sympathy for Scott, but also a reminder from ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys of the need for players to remember they are role models.

Scott had his run-in with police in the early hours of January 27, having fallen asleep while heavily intoxicated under a tree near the SCG.

“I understand the difficulties he has gone through with police, but it is still not a good look for the game being intoxicated in a park,” V’landys said. “I sympathise with him. But he is still a role model and he shouldn’t have got himself in that position.”
Scott had five charges withdrawn by police on Wednesday and the final two dismissed on Thursday. He had previously pleaded guilty to two charges but no conviction was recorded.

Just over a minute of footage was shown on Wednesday but Scott’s legal team urged the court to view further footage on Thursday. What they saw was disturbing as police pepper-sprayed Scott and then told him to stop his protests or he would be tasered.