- Officers quit over assault verdict
- The Australian
- 14/03/2009 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: The Rooster ( 258 articles in 2009 )
THE acquittal of a father and two sons on charges of bashing police in a brawl that left one partially paralysed has sparked a huge outcry, causing the West Australian police commissioner to warn of resignations from the force.
Constable Matthew Butcher
Constable Matthew Butcher was paralysed down his left side last year, after trying to break up a brawl outside a tavern in Perth's northern suburbs involving Robert McLeod and his sons, Barry and Scott.
The McLeods - who were represented by top Melbourne silks Colin Lovett and Con Heliotis - were charged with several assaults against police but were acquitted of all those charges on Thursday.
The jury reached their decision after a six-week trial, during which they were shown mobile phone video footage of Barry McLeod hitting Constable Butcher from behind in what was described as a "flying headbutt".
The jury handed down a conviction on only one charge. This was against Scott McLeod, who was found to have threatened to kill a member of the public who filmed the brawl on his phone.
Scott was fined $4000 in the District Court yesterday. State Attorney-General Christian Porter, a former prosecutor, yesterday described the footage as one of the most horrific things he had seen in criminal justice.
"It made me sick to my stomach to watch it," he said.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, in Perth for the funeral of Bev Gallop, wife of former premier Geoff Gallop, said he was "stunned" by the case, and the community needed to get behind the police.
Constable Butcher said the video was "the most cowardly thing" he had seen.
Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said he was "thoroughly disgusted" when he watched the footage, and he found it hard to believe no one was to blame for Constable Butcher being hit from behind.
He said two officers involved in the case had already resigned as a result of the verdict, and more might follow.
"I wouldn't be surprised if I get more," he said. "I think the losers out of this process will be the community of Western Australia. If police officers don't feel protected ... they probably won't work as hard."
The decision has led to heated debate about the role of juries in the criminal justice system, and while Mr Porter said he was a supporter of juries, he wanted to clamp down on the number of excuses people could use to be excused from duty.
Mr Porter also flagged two major changes to criminal law, restricting self-defence laws and penalising accused criminals if they chose to use the right to silence.
He would look at replicating changes made to Britain's right to silence laws, which penalised people if they did not tell police early on in the investigation the reason behind their actions and instead raised it later during a trial.
But one of the McLeods' lawyers, Michael Tudori, said yesterday it was an "absolutely disgrace" that Mr Porter and others had criticised the case when they had not been present at the trial.
He said the McLeods had been protecting themselves and family members from excessive police force, The Weekend Australian reported. "The jury's verdict was unanimous in that the police used excessive force; that's how and why they were acquitted," he said.
"The police should be looking at and reviewing that footage as to how they behaved."
Mr O'Callaghan said police would look at mounting a civil action against the McLeods, but Mr Tudori said the family was not concerned by this and may take their own action.
He said Robert McLeod was still suffering from the effects of the brawl, in which he was struck with a Taser gun.
Constable Matthew Butcher
Constable Matthew Butcher was paralysed down his left side last year, after trying to break up a brawl outside a tavern in Perth's northern suburbs involving Robert McLeod and his sons, Barry and Scott.
The McLeods - who were represented by top Melbourne silks Colin Lovett and Con Heliotis - were charged with several assaults against police but were acquitted of all those charges on Thursday.
The jury reached their decision after a six-week trial, during which they were shown mobile phone video footage of Barry McLeod hitting Constable Butcher from behind in what was described as a "flying headbutt".
The jury handed down a conviction on only one charge. This was against Scott McLeod, who was found to have threatened to kill a member of the public who filmed the brawl on his phone.
Scott was fined $4000 in the District Court yesterday. State Attorney-General Christian Porter, a former prosecutor, yesterday described the footage as one of the most horrific things he had seen in criminal justice.
"It made me sick to my stomach to watch it," he said.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, in Perth for the funeral of Bev Gallop, wife of former premier Geoff Gallop, said he was "stunned" by the case, and the community needed to get behind the police.
Constable Butcher said the video was "the most cowardly thing" he had seen.
Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said he was "thoroughly disgusted" when he watched the footage, and he found it hard to believe no one was to blame for Constable Butcher being hit from behind.
He said two officers involved in the case had already resigned as a result of the verdict, and more might follow.
"I wouldn't be surprised if I get more," he said. "I think the losers out of this process will be the community of Western Australia. If police officers don't feel protected ... they probably won't work as hard."
The decision has led to heated debate about the role of juries in the criminal justice system, and while Mr Porter said he was a supporter of juries, he wanted to clamp down on the number of excuses people could use to be excused from duty.
Mr Porter also flagged two major changes to criminal law, restricting self-defence laws and penalising accused criminals if they chose to use the right to silence.
He would look at replicating changes made to Britain's right to silence laws, which penalised people if they did not tell police early on in the investigation the reason behind their actions and instead raised it later during a trial.
But one of the McLeods' lawyers, Michael Tudori, said yesterday it was an "absolutely disgrace" that Mr Porter and others had criticised the case when they had not been present at the trial.
He said the McLeods had been protecting themselves and family members from excessive police force, The Weekend Australian reported. "The jury's verdict was unanimous in that the police used excessive force; that's how and why they were acquitted," he said.
"The police should be looking at and reviewing that footage as to how they behaved."
Mr O'Callaghan said police would look at mounting a civil action against the McLeods, but Mr Tudori said the family was not concerned by this and may take their own action.
He said Robert McLeod was still suffering from the effects of the brawl, in which he was struck with a Taser gun.
Source: https://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25184395-5006789,00.html
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