Mark Anthony Follington: Initial police facts revealed as former cop prepares to appeal ‘fake’ assault
A police officer made a “fake” report about a woman of attacking him — but the reality was found in court to be very different.
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A report made by a police officer jailed for faking an attack on himself before a court found he was the one who assaulted a woman has been revealed in court documents.
Mark Anthony Follington, 63, is preparing to appeal his conviction after he was jailed for two and a half years in 2021 for the violent and unlawful arrest of Anya Bradford, as well as falsely claiming in an incident report that she attacked him.
The former cop’s “false” version of events have been detailed in court documents seen by news.com.au.
The documents show Bradford was initially charged with three counts of assaulting an officer in execution of his or her duty and one charge of resist an officer in execution of their duty — charges that were later dropped.
In the initial report which formed the basis of the police facts when Bradford was first charged, police claimed they attended the Golden Fleece Hotel in Liverpool in Sydney’s west on May 7, 2019, “due to an increase in drug activity inside the gaming room”.
According to the now disproved facts, police entered the gaming room and “introduced themselves” to Bradford, who was playing a poker machine.
“The accused has stood up from the poker machine and told police ‘I have to go to a meeting’. In doing so, the accused has pushed past Senior Constable Follington using her shoulder, causing Senior Constable Follington to lose his balance,” the facts read.
“Police have then requested the accused to stop and informed her she was under arrest for assault(ing) police … The accused has become aggressive and lashed out towards police by waving her arms and kicking at police”.
According to those facts, another constable fired a taser at Ms Bradford due to feeling being “in danger of being overpowered”. That same constable later used pepper spray on Ms Bradford after she ran into another building, the facts read.
But in a trial in the NSW District Court, Follington was found to have intentionally lied about the version of events at the pub.
CCTV footage tendered to court showed Follington was in fact the one who assaulted Ms Bradford first, pushing her head into an ATM and following her into the nearby building.
After she was tasered and pepper-sprayed, the court heard Follington then forced her head up with his forearm before taking her away in handcuffs.
He had maintained his innocence but was ultimately found guilty and sentenced to 30 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 18-months.
Follington spent under a year in prison for two counts of assault and one count of tampering evidence to mislead a judicial tribunal, one count of an act intending to pervert the course of justice and one count of accessing or modifying restricted data.
In a development to the case, Follington initiated proceedings to attempt to overturn his conviction and was released on bail pending his appeal hearing.
Earlier this month, Follington’s lawyer, Jack Tyler-Stott, told the NSW District Court the appeal bid will focus on his client’s “state of mind”.
“He had cognitive impairment at time of the alleged offending,” Mr Tyler-Stott told the court, which heard the appeal will rely heavily on the fresh evidence of two experts.
A hearing date has been set for January 14 next year.
Originally published as Mark Anthony Follington: Initial police facts revealed as former cop prepares to appeal ‘fake’ assault
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