Australian cops allegedly break student's leg over ticket

A group of police officers broke the leg of an arts student and told her "we don't care if it's legal" after she was caught without a train ticket, a court has been told.

Rachel Gardner is suing the NSW police force claiming she was assaulted, sat on, handcuffed, pushed against a fence, loaded into a paddy wagon and then dumped at a nearby train station without charge on March 13, 2011.

Police initially denied the kick occurred but sought to amend their defence in the Sydney District Court on Monday after it emerged Ms Gardner's legal team had obtained CCTV footage from Cronulla station.

Ms Gardner, 36, was at the station with two tourist friends just before midnight when they were approached by transit officers and found to be without tickets.

An altercation ensued when the tourists couldn't produce identification and police attended. Ms Gardner claims that when she protested that one of the tourists was being pinned to the ground by a transit officer, Acting Sergeant Craig Sands kicked both her legs out from under her, breaking her right leg.

In her statement of claim, it is alleged Sergeant Sands then directed a transit officer to sit on her while she was lying face down on the platform before she was handcuffed, told she was under arrest and put in a paddy wagon.

When she objected to what she believed was an unlawful arrest, an officer said "we don't care if this is legal", the statement said. Ms Gardner was not taken to a police station and charged. Instead, she was driven to Sutherland railway station and "left to fend for herself in a seriously injured condition".

She is seeking damages of up to $750,000 for the injuries as well as the humiliation, disgrace, mental suffering, emotional distress, fear and anxiety, loss of social status and inconvenience caused by assault, false arrest and false imprisonment. A doctor's report says she will likely develop osteoarthritis within five to 10 years.

Her aspirations to become a filmmaker would also be hindered as well as attempts to get casual work while studying fine arts at the University of NSW College of Fine Arts, the court heard. Barrister Geoffrey Petty, SC, said the only record of the incident was a standard internal log that was "brief in the extreme". He said CCTV footage showed the kick "as plain as daylight" and also showed the officers chatting on the station as Ms Gardner limped away.

The police initially denied all Ms Gardner's claims and said she bit and kicked officers, however barrister Matthew Hastings sought to file a new defence document that Judge Sharron Norton noted was "entirely different" to the one submitted before the footage emerged.

Mr Hastings said Ms Gardner's statement of claim was so vague it hindered their initial investigation. The hearing resumes on Tuesday.

Original report here. (Via Australian police news)

　

　

　

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