NSW Police officer blasted for grabbing woman by throat, slamming her into car


EXCLUSIVE: Sickening moment a cop grabs a handcuffed woman by the THROAT and slams her against a car – before he gives the incredible excuse he thought his three colleagues surrounding her were ‘in danger’

  • Policeman under fire for grabbing a handcuffed, incoherent woman by throat
  • Sydney woman had been mouthing off and took a ‘pathetic’ kick toward officers 
  • Bodycam obtained by a watchdog showed cop with his hand around her neck

Shocking bodycam video can be revealed showing a policeman grabbing a handcuffed woman by the throat and slamming her against a police truck. 

The incoherent and dishevelled woman was sprung with stolen goods in a Sydney suburb one night on October 23, 2019 and surrounded by NSW Police officers.

The woman, who appeared to be under the influence, told the officers she was looking to ‘score’ from a friend.

She mouthed off at the police, was in such a state she lifted up her dress at the four officers and then took a ‘useless’ kick at one of them.

That’s when a Senior Constable lunged forward and grabbed the woman’s neck, leaving her gurgling and pinned up against the truck.

The officer’s use of force has been slammed as ‘inappropriate and excessive’ by the police watchdog, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission. 

‘She was vulnerable. She was no threat,’ the watchdog said in a report released to Parliament late on Friday night. 

In footage released by the police watchdog, the woman is seen being held in a chokehold by the officer after a 'useless' kick at one of his colleagues

In footage released by the police watchdog, the woman is seen being held in a chokehold by the officer after a ‘useless’ kick at one of his colleagues

The watchdog rubbished the policeman’s claims he believed he and his colleagues were ‘in danger’ from the woman and that he took ‘split second’ action to stop her. 

In its report, the commission said the officers had first seen the woman unsteady on her feet with a bag and suitcase in Sydney about 9pm that evening.

Officers looked through her bags and found stolen goods with the tags still attached.

The wobbly woman tried to strike one of the police officers in the face before falling over, the report said. She was then handcuffed over fears she would self-harm and officers called in an ambulance.

It was then that the woman pulled up her dress against the car, before turning around and declaring: ‘I’m an old body sculptor’.  

She then lifted her knee toward the police, leading them to warn her ‘don’t’. 

The officer then grabbed her by the neck. She was heard laughing through choking noises in the video. 

At a hearing the police officer agreed with his lawyer he had a ‘reasonable basis to believe either his own safety or the safety of others was in imminent danger’.

But the commission saw things very differently. 

‘None of (the three other cops) were threatened by the pathetic leg swing of (the woman),’ the police watchdog found. 

‘None of the officers needed (the policeman’s) assistance.’ 

The woman (in striped dress on right) is seen up against the police car earlier in the video, back turned to the officers

The woman (in striped dress on right) is seen up against the police car earlier in the video, back turned to the officers

All three of the other officers present told the Commission they wouldn’t have behaved the same way – although they were reluctant to criticise their colleague. 

The commission found what the policeman did was ‘an unreasonable use of force’ albeit one at the lower end of the spectrum. 

The watchdog recommended the officer face ‘serious disciplinary action’ including restricted duties or reprimands.

But any punishment wouldn’t go as far as termination, demotion or having his pay docked. 

A NSW Police spokeswoman said the Force is considering the report and the watchdog’s recommendations. 

The report was one of two issued by the police watchdog last week that were critical of officers’ conduct. 

A separate report found police officers with the elite Strike Force Raptor intimidated a lawyer who was representing a bikie. 

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