AGGRESSIVE QUEENSLAND (AUSTRALIA) POLICE "LOSE" SO-CALLED EVIDENCE

A digital tape recording that police and union officials claimed would prove an Ipswich mother used vulgar and offensive language when she was arrested for double parking outside a school does not exist. Documents obtained by The Courier-Mail reveal an alleged digital recording of a heated verbal exchange between Yvette Green, of Riverview, and a traffic branch officer outside the Collingwood Park State School on January 25 was "corrupted".

Ms Green, a mother of five, was arrested by Senior Constable Anthony Brett during a statewide traffic safety blitz. She allegedly double parked to drop off two of her children at the school about 8.40am. Her toddler son was strapped into the back seat of her car when she was approached by Sen-Constable Brett. A heated exchange followed during which police claimed Ms Green refused to give her name and verbally abused them, using a string of expletives.

Ms Green claims Sen-Constable Brett handcuffed her and dragged her out of her BMW sedan. Police subsequently charged Ms Green with one count each of obstructing police, disobeying a direction and behaving in a disorderly and offensive manner. She was also issued a ticket for double parking.

In a letter to police investigators on May 15, a Sydney-based manufacturer who analysed Sen-Constable Brett's digital voice recorder revealed the "recorded file" was "corrupted". The letter also reveals their technicians had unsuccessfully tried to retrieve the file which police were expected to allege contained the exchange between Ms Green and Sen-Constable Brett. "After careful analysis and based on the findings of our technician, we have found that the recorded file with approximate duration of 25 minutes contained in the TTS-330 Digital Voice Recorder is corrupted," the letter from JNC Digital service centre administrator Rhoel Adriano says.

The documents show the digital recorder was taken home overnight by Sen-Constable Brett and collected from his home by another officer two days after Ms Green was arrested. It was then logged as evidence and handled by four police officers at Ipswich but it is unclear whether they listened to the alleged exchange. Police forensics and the manufacturer were both unsuccessful in extracting data of the alleged verbal exchange on the recorder.

Sen-Constable Brett did record the alleged exchange in his official police notebook on the day of the arrest. In the absence of Sen-Constable Brett's audio recording, an Ipswich magistrate will have to rely on his sworn testimony and that of his partner, Sen-Constable Kathrine Stafford, as to what Ms Green is alleged to have said . In the days after her arrest, the Queensland Police Union said Ms Green used language that would make a "sailor blush". Ms Green yesterday declined to comment on the absence of the audio recording, saying the matter was set for summary trial in the Ipswich Magistrates Court on June 6.

Report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)