00:00 Court documents show that in 2017 the inmate, who the ABC has chosen not to name, was taken,
00:07 along with several other prisoners, to an overflow area of the jail without exercise
00:12 or shower facilities.
00:14 After several days in this overflow area, he and two other inmates became angry and
00:18 frustrated, and all three smashed the windows of their cell doors.
00:22 As a result, he was forcibly removed from the cell by way of a so-called "hard extraction".
00:27 Four officers using a riot shield entered the cell where he was kneeling down as he
00:31 had been instructed to do so.
00:32 The inmate was then pulled away from the wall, spun around and thrown to the ground, causing
00:37 him to strike his head against a wall.
00:39 His hands were cuffed from behind and he was dragged from the roof.
00:43 His arm was pulled upwards as he was forced to kneel again, causing him a painful shoulder
00:47 injury.
00:48 In her written judgement, Chief Justice Lucy McCallum said she found the CCTV footage harrowing
00:53 to watch, as the inmate could be heard crying out and swearing in visible expressions of
00:58 pain.
00:59 She described the use of force as "significant" and "degrading", saying it caused him "extreme
01:04 pain and distress".
01:05 Her judgement also acknowledged specific resourcing issues which led to increased tensions at
01:10 the jail at the time.
01:11 She found that ultimately the use of force was not justified and awarded the man $159,654
01:18 in damages.
01:19 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Comments