- 6 hours ago
Four Corners - Season Episode 16 - Brutal Force
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00This program contains confronting depictions of violence and coarse language.
00:22This is pretty much where it happened, just here.
00:27If you just come down here, that tree there is where she was sitting when the police turned up.
00:33Just here, and she ran and they chased her.
00:35The assault essentially happened all just here, right in front of us.
00:43How does it make you feel?
00:45Pretty hard now, now that we're here. It's pretty bad.
00:49They took an oath to protect the community, to protect the people.
00:54And that's not what they did here.
00:57Dad, I'm sorry I didn't listen.
01:00Dad, please. Just please go. Please go.
01:03Get down.
01:06Let him go. Let him go.
01:11Let him go. Let him go.
01:18She was sitting in a gutter and scared.
01:22There were security cameras everywhere, here and there.
01:25What does it say to you that they did it in front of them?
01:28I just didn't care. They knew they were there.
01:30She didn't even have anywhere to go.
01:32No.
01:35Caught on camera.
01:39Settled in secret.
01:46Who polices the police?
01:49I was immediately concerned that the police had done the wrong thing.
01:53She was not safe when the police were in her presence, basically.
01:57A flawed system allowing bad cops to act with impunity.
02:02You were arrested for something you didn't do.
02:04Yep.
02:04You were taken to a police station and you were bashed.
02:07Then the cops charged you with assaulting them and resisting arrest.
02:11Yep.
02:11And then they lied about it.
02:12Yeah.
02:13Or tried to, because they got caught lying about.
02:16New South Wales Police.
02:18The oldest and the richest force in the country.
02:21Responsible for policing one in three Australians.
02:26Over the last decade, it's also become the most complained about police agency.
02:31It's now the national leader in legal payouts.
02:35Last financial year, it paid out $40 million, including court costs.
02:41The same year, there were 478 civil suits filed.
02:46That's about two cases every working day of the year.
03:09How are you?
03:11Good to meet you.
03:13I'm Dylan.
03:14Is this your caravan?
03:15Yeah, this is.
03:15I've come to Casino to meet a guy called Brad Kelson.
03:18And to see the caravan he's bought.
03:21That's my dog, little Jojo.
03:23Hello, Jojo.
03:25Hello, Jojo.
03:26Hello.
03:28I already looked at it about six times before I actually bought it.
03:32Yeah.
03:32And then I walked in and said, um, I'll give you 15 grand in cash right now for it.
03:37Will you take it?
03:39And he goes, deal.
03:41Brad Kelson doesn't usually have 15 grand to spare.
03:45This caravan, the money you had to buy it, comes from your settlement with the government.
03:50Yep.
03:51Yep, New South Wales Police paid for this caravan.
03:53F**k a bunch!
03:55Oi!
03:56Oi!
03:57Oi!
03:57Mate!
03:58You're going home anyway, dickhead.
03:59Oi!
04:00Stop!
04:00Stop!
04:02Mate!
04:04You've been asked to stop.
04:05Mm.
04:06It's in here.
04:07Mm.
04:07What's going on?
04:08In 2021, Brad was living in Sydney with his partner.
04:13They'd been out drinking, and had stopped at a pub on their way home for dinner, but were refused entry.
04:18Mm.
04:19Mm.
04:19What's going on?
04:20You know, it's...
04:2141 video cameras recording.
04:22Now, conversation, new action.
04:24Police are responding to a call about a man pushing a woman outside the pub.
04:29There are witnesses saying it was Brad.
04:32I was going to get some info from those guys.
04:34What were you doing just then?
04:34You had your shirt off, carrying on in the middle of the road?
04:37Oi!
04:38We're going to keep going on.
04:39Come on, Reebok.
04:40Mate, stop carrying on.
04:41No, you won't.
04:43The officers try to keep him calm, but the sheer number of them is making Brad nervous.
04:48Yeah!
04:49How many coppers?
04:51Two, four, six, eight.
04:54Nearly ten coppers work for me.
04:56All for you.
04:58You've got to be fucking joking me.
04:59Who's got the mask on?
05:01Fucking dead set.
05:03That's fucking stupid.
05:04Huh?
05:05There's confusion about why they're being stopped.
05:08So what's happening here now?
05:10Who's...
05:11What's going on?
05:12Like, all these cops...
05:13We're sorting that out now.
05:14Like, this is too much.
05:16Oh, no.
05:17A decision's made to arrest him.
05:18Nah, not yet.
05:19Is that you?
05:20Has he been placed under arrest?
05:22No.
05:22He's been cautioned, but not placed under arrest.
05:24Yeah, placed him under arrest.
05:26What for?
05:26So he's not free to go because we're investigating a DV offence.
05:29Brad's no angel.
05:31He's been in and out of custody since his teens, sometimes for violence.
05:36Three years after this incident, he was convicted of assaulting his partner.
05:40But that moment, that arrest, was unlawful.
05:44And it became the starting point for a cascade of errors by police.
05:51Hayley Lee represented Brad Kelson when he sued the police.
05:59And Mr. Kelson was cooperating.
06:03He had voluntarily given them his identification in case they needed it.
06:08He told them he was on his way home.
06:12Someone might say,
06:13Well, Brad, you know, got what was coming to him by talking to the police that way.
06:17How would you respond to that?
06:19Look, the magistrate found that Mr. Kelson was drunk and belligerent.
06:23But that's not unlawful.
06:26And it certainly doesn't warrant the level of force that the officer used on Mr. Kelson.
06:34This is the police body-worn video of leading senior constable Mark Davis.
06:40He's about to do what police generally shouldn't do.
06:44Escalate the situation.
06:53Brad's face is slammed into a metal bench.
06:58You want to step in front of me again?
06:59And you'll hit the dock too.
07:00What are you there for, Brad?
07:01See what I'm doing?
07:02All right.
07:03I'm going to sit right now.
07:04You just touched me for no reason.
07:06Turn around.
07:07And you wanted to go and touch my mistress.
07:08Turn around.
07:09Oi, turn around.
07:09Sit down.
07:10I was sitting down in the first place.
07:13The fuck you do that?
07:14I didn't do nothing to you.
07:16I don't see you.
07:17Look on your cock cams.
07:18Because the next minute's going to get shattered in a minute.
07:21It's going to get shattered, is it?
07:22All right.
07:22In the trunk.
07:23Let's go.
07:25Brad, already subject to an unlawful arrest, is now handcuffed and thrown into a police
07:31truck.
07:34I'm going to sit back.
07:38I'm going to sit back.
07:42It's about to get worse.
07:47I was handcuffed behind my back.
07:51I remember going to the counter.
08:01The same officer who slammed Brad onto the metal bench, Mark Davis, now hurls him towards
08:07the holding cells.
08:11He then grabs him by the neck and throws him onto the cell's metal bench.
08:24Mark Davis is more than twice Brad's weight.
08:28While Brad struggles pinned to the ground under other officers, Davis knees him five times.
08:45At the end of all of this, Brad is charged with assaulting police, resisting arrest, domestic
08:51violence and given an AVO.
08:56I'm emotional, brother, you know.
08:58That's something bad to watch, really.
09:01Especially when I remember it, the whole lot.
09:08I can't watch that.
09:10It's fucked.
09:11In the end, Brad wasn't convicted of anything, and he received an undisclosed amount in a settlement.
09:24The assault, later labelled brutal by a district court judge, left him with 10 to 12 fractured
09:31ribs and a punctured lung.
09:32He ended up spending four days in intensive care.
09:39Couldn't work, lost me a job.
09:41We can't work with 12 broken ribs, can you?
09:43We were 11, punctured lung.
09:46Then I just, because I got depression anyway, I sort of got depressed a bit.
09:51Thought about some things I shouldn't have, but I did.
09:56What do you mean?
09:58I felt like this, everything was just, like, I got put in a box and the walls were just,
10:05wanted to squash me, so I just wanted to end myself, really.
10:1830 years ago, the New South Wales police force was mired in scandal and corruption.
10:24Some cops moonlighted as violent crooks and took bribes to allow drug dealing.
10:29The Wood Royal Commission waded into this swamp.
10:34It exposed enormous amounts of serious systemic corruption in the police force.
10:41It led to some major reforms, including the establishment of an external oversight body.
10:49This police watchdog, the rollout of body-worn cameras and the professionalisation of the
10:54force, was supposed to bring accountability.
10:57I think there's been a trend away from the more blatant forms of police corruption,
11:02especially bribery and protection rackets, and fabrication of evidence against suspects.
11:08Tim Prenzler, one of Australia's foremost police integrity experts,
11:13says some bad behaviour has never gone away.
11:16So we have significant ongoing problems with allegations of excessive force and assaults by police, for example.
11:24We don't see improvements in that area.
11:29And, on the force's own numbers, very few officers are being criminally charged for misconduct,
11:35including excessive force.
11:37Over the five years to 2024, there were on average about 1,000 findings of misconduct per year,
11:45following internal investigations.
11:47Only 2% of those cases led to charges against an officer.
11:54It can be argued that the lack of prosecutions of police by police is an issue.
12:00There's no denying that.
12:02Criminologist Vince Hurley spent nearly three decades in the New South Wales police force.
12:07There are police in there now who have never experienced or lived for a Royal Commission.
12:12So they have no fear of the consequences, some of them, of their actions.
12:16They haven't lived through being scrutinised to the nth degree by the Royal Commission
12:22or the public about their behaviour.
12:28Police officer Mark Davis struck Brad right in front of his colleagues
12:33and the station's cameras.
12:36Mr Kelson's case alone, how brazen that conduct was.
12:40It was within the view of the cameras in the custody room,
12:45the body-worn footage of all his peers.
12:48It was committed in full view of his peers.
12:52And he was assured as to his position because of the culture in that organisation
12:57that there weren't going to be any consequences.
13:00You mean that the police would have lied for him?
13:02That's what happened.
13:08Four Corners can reveal that within days of Brad Kelson's assault,
13:13a probationary constable who witnessed the incident made a complaint.
13:19Police launched an internal investigation, monitored by the police watchdog.
13:23The results of the investigation were kept secret.
13:28Meanwhile, police pursued Brad's charges.
13:32The officers firstly did not disclose the body-worn footage
13:38when the brief was ordered to be served by the court.
13:43They also failed to reveal the existence of the police station CCTV.
13:49Some officers also copied each other's statements.
13:53The standard operating procedures within the police say
13:57that they should not share statements.
13:59And that's to avoid contamination.
14:01And you can see in the statements of two of the key officers involved
14:06that there's an entire paragraph that's been replicated.
14:10About 11pm Saturday.
14:1213 November 2021.
14:15I attended the vicinity of Main Street, Blacktown.
14:18In response to a domestic violence incident occurring.
14:21The statements of those officers, one of whom was Mark Davis,
14:26include an identical spelling mistake.
14:30When Brad finally had his day in court,
14:33the magistrate threw out the charges.
14:35She found there was excessive force,
14:38clear collusion between officers,
14:40and that Officer Mark Davis had lied on the stand.
14:44In a later district court appeal,
14:47the judge said police had used false evidence
14:49to patch up their case.
14:54The New South Wales Police Force is required
14:57to report criticism like this
14:59to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.
15:02That didn't happen.
15:09The case of Kelsen says that there's something seriously wrong
15:12with the system,
15:13and it was never thoroughly investigated,
15:15that it was never transparent.
15:17I find it difficult to believe in 2026
15:19that that is the case.
15:21What message does that send to the public
15:23about police accountability and transparency
15:26of the organisation?
15:32We put all of this to police.
15:35They told us their internal investigation
15:37had cleared Mark Davis and other officers of unreasonable force.
15:42Following pressure from the watchdog,
15:45they launched a second investigation.
15:46This cleared the officers of dishonesty,
15:50but proved other misconduct.
15:52Police wouldn't say what that misconduct was
15:54or what action they took.
15:57So, what happened to Mark Davis?
16:01I've come to Blacktown Police Station to find out.
16:05So, I just went in and asked them if Mark Davis was there,
16:09and they said no, that he's no longer at this station,
16:12he's been moved to a different command.
16:16We searched online and found this Instagram post.
16:20It shows the senior constable,
16:22who'd kneed Brad Kelson five times and lied in court,
16:25giving a talk to students at a Penrith High School about bullying.
16:29It says he's the local youth liaison officer.
16:37It makes me angry, but I can't say it don't make me angry, man,
16:40because it does.
16:41He shouldn't have his job, mate, I'm telling you.
16:44After that, man, how can that still be going on in the police force?
16:52Brad's case exposed a failure of accountability.
16:55What this next case suggests is something even darker.
16:59Officers acting as if they had nothing to fear.
17:04That's a photo of Jodie.
17:07Just tell me what she was like.
17:11Yeah, she's gorgeous. She was a gorgeous person.
17:14Carefree-spirited, crazy woman.
17:18Loud.
17:20Funny.
17:21No harm in her at all.
17:23No harm in her body.
17:24And love for family.
17:27Nicole Allen and Cherie Castagne are cousins.
17:30They grew up in a large extended family,
17:33spending long summers with other cousins,
17:35including the irrepressible Jodie Knott.
17:41She would take off, she would go, she would live her life to its fullest.
17:48Even with all her trauma and her mental health, she was still a happy person.
17:54She was mentally ill from a very young age, but it just got worse, obviously.
17:58She got older and then substances and addictions are pretty hard.
18:04But there wasn't Jodie.
18:05She was just a lost little soul that just needed help now and then.
18:11Jodie was brutally assaulted by two police officers three years ago.
18:16It's as sickening as it is shocking.
18:18A mentally ill woman in a psychotic episode,
18:21brutally assaulted by the same people meant to protect her.
18:26This is the first time Jodie's been named.
18:31For years, the body-worn footage of her assault sat on a shelf, unseen.
18:37Four Corners has obtained it and Nicole and Cherie
18:40are the first members of the public to watch it.
18:44The body-worn video is recording just to let you know that.
18:47It's all right, it's good.
18:47I'm not going to shoot you like you just kept telling me.
18:49Police are called after a report of a woman sitting naked
18:52on a western Sydney street.
18:54What's your name? You didn't even tell us your name.
18:57If you don't tell us, we'll just work it out at the hospital,
18:59but it'll be easier if you tell us now.
19:02When the two plainclothes officers arrive,
19:05Jodie's sitting calmly under a tree.
19:07They tell her an ambulance will take her to hospital.
19:11Oh, the ambos are here now, so...
19:14I'm telling you now that you'll be going to the Pean Hospital
19:17and you'll be sectioned under Section 23.
19:20Oh, I won't. The ambulance is not going to come out.
19:20OK.
19:21That ambulance is... Oh, you know, they can't date me.
19:24They can't date me.
19:25They can't.
19:25He can't physically date me.
19:26Jodie lives with schizophrenia
19:28and is experiencing a psychotic episode.
19:32She's stopped taking her medication.
19:34This had previously been managed by a good friend,
19:37but he'd recently died.
19:39I'm terrified of you people!
19:42Go away!
19:43But there's nothing you can do.
19:45OK.
19:45You can't physically beat me!
19:48Fuck off!
19:50You're not going anywhere.
19:51I'm going anywhere I want!
19:53Over almost 15 minutes,
19:55a sickening and brutal attack on Jodie unfolds.
19:59I need a taser.
20:01Get the taser then!
20:05Go on.
20:05Wash your cunt.
20:06Wash your ass.
20:07Go on.
20:09Wash it out.
20:11The officers empty their cans of pepper spray on Jodie,
20:15on her face at close range,
20:17even on her genitals.
20:19At times, they laugh.
20:22OK, please!
20:23Just please go!
20:24Please go!
20:25They kick her in the head.
20:27They stomp on her.
20:29One drags her by her hair.
20:31All right.
20:32Two times, Jodie!
20:33I'll get in there!
20:35No!
20:37Absolutely not!
20:38No!
20:42Let him go!
20:43Let him go!
20:46Let him go!
20:48Let him go!
20:52Fuck's sake!
20:53Let him go!
20:54Let him go!
20:54He's got three and eighties.
20:55Yeah.
20:57Fuck me!
21:02I don't want to do it at the fun.
21:04Just fuck you!
21:05I see you!
21:06I see you!
21:08I know you!
21:10Get one.
21:11Get one.
21:12Oh!
21:17That was too...
21:19That was horrendous.
21:21I need a break.
21:23That was just fucked up.
21:24That was so bad.
21:34She just wanted fucking help, darling.
21:37She just wanted fucking help?
21:38She just wanted fucking someone to help her.
21:41It's worse.
21:42It's worse than what I thought.
21:48She just wanted to help.
21:51I don't know.
21:53Gutted.
21:54Disgusted.
21:56Very angry.
21:58Very angry.
21:59It's disgusting.
22:02It's horrendous.
22:04You can't...
22:05You just couldn't imagine what she went through.
22:09She was in a psychosis episode and that's why they were called out there.
22:14The officers charged Jodie with assaulting police and resisting arrest.
22:19Over the next day, one of the officers sends a string of messages to a colleague.
22:25Both OC cans emptied on her.
22:28The whole body-worn is so good.
22:30Shows her being fucked.
22:32Nurses are lodging a complaint.
22:34We caved her.
22:36He also sent them some of the body-worn vision.
22:40It was after this that police launched an investigation.
22:44At the time, a deputy commissioner said it was one of the worst things he'd seen in his 40 years
22:51in the force.
22:52Do you think those officers were concerned about the consequences of their actions?
22:56No, absolutely not.
22:58The fact that they shared their body cam footage, they had no fear of consequences.
23:06Once they started, there was no stopping them.
23:08They had no care whatsoever.
23:1218 months after the assault, Jodie Knott died of cancer.
23:17The two officers, Nathan Black and Timothy Trouch, pleaded guilty to common assault.
23:23Black received three years and three months non-parole.
23:26Black told the court a lack of training, a high pace of operations and a toxic workplace culture contributed to
23:37their actions.
23:39They didn't care that there was cameras around or that their body cam footage was on.
23:46That says to me that there is a significant cultural issue within the police department, that this type of behaviour
23:53is okay.
23:54And it shouldn't be.
23:59During this investigation, we've examined hundreds of cases of alleged police misconduct that are on the public record.
24:06But there are many more that remain unexamined.
24:11Trapped in the police internal investigation system,
24:15most misconduct complaints never become public.
24:20The thousands of complaints come in against police every year,
24:23what happens to them?
24:25There are some cases on the record where officers are named,
24:28but generally speaking, we don't know the outcomes of cases,
24:31whether an officer was disciplined,
24:35whether they were subject to some sort of remediation program,
24:39whether there was an apology.
24:41That information is not on the public record.
24:47The impact of police investigations of police misconduct
24:53is woefully inadequate.
24:56Peter O'Brien has launched hundreds of cases against police
25:00for alleged assault and misconduct.
25:02A court might find serious misconduct has happened in the same instance.
25:08The complaint process has exonerated the police misbehaviour.
25:15The police run at least 1,500 misconduct investigations a year.
25:20By comparison, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission,
25:23the independent watchdog designed to keep police in line runs roughly 70.
25:29In a state like New South Wales, a large state,
25:33if our agency was to be the sole body dealing with all complaints against police,
25:41you would need to have a very large number of investigators.
25:46Former Supreme Court judge Peter Johnson heads up the agency.
25:50You would have to have an enormous budget to have a separate body
25:54that dealt with all complaints against police.
25:56So we have a type of hybrid model in a way,
25:59and I think that's reasonably effective in the circumstances.
26:02The head of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission has said
26:05police investigating police in the main is appropriate,
26:08that's how it should work.
26:09It's not best practice. No.
26:12And my question would be, well, what is the evidence of effectiveness?
26:16I'm not aware of any, and all the evidence that I can see
26:19points to the contrary.
26:22The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission can recommend changes,
26:26but the police are under no obligation to implement them.
26:30One area where police have ignored the watchdog
26:32is on the use of body-worn cameras.
26:37In New South Wales, unlike in most other states,
26:40it's not mandatory for officers to use their cameras
26:44when exercising police powers.
26:46Body-worn video is critical.
26:48It is the friend of the honest and ethical police officer,
26:52potential enemy of the officer who is doing the wrong thing.
26:56It should be mandatory.
26:58The police watchdog has spent three years
27:01calling for the force to make body-worn video use compulsory.
27:04So far, the police haven't acted.
27:10What's clear from the vision we've obtained
27:13is that some officers are leaning on the lack of hard rules.
27:19In the case of Jodie Knott,
27:21one of the officers, at times,
27:23mutes his body-worn camera.
27:25The other officer either didn't have one
27:27or didn't turn it on.
27:29None of that is against New South Wales police rules.
27:35What is against police rules
27:37is throwing your camera away.
27:39That's what happened in a case that was investigated
27:42by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.
27:48I've come to meet the victim in that case.
27:51He was 15 years old when he was arrested
27:54after police responded to a report of teenagers fighting.
28:00We can't identify him for legal reasons.
28:04I dropped down to the ground, put my hands up,
28:07and then the girl officer, she coughed me.
28:10She, like, put my hands by my back.
28:12And the boy cop come up to me, pick me up,
28:15slid me onto the ground,
28:16started brooding into my back.
28:18He picked me up again,
28:19walked me, like, a few feet away,
28:21punched my face and knocked me back down.
28:25The officer who assaulted the teen
28:28then disposed of his camera.
28:31How did he dispose of it?
28:33He threw it into a body of water.
28:39The officer then told five colleagues
28:42that he'd assaulted a kid
28:43and thrown his body worn away
28:45to hide what he'd done.
28:47Only one reported it months later.
28:57Sometimes accountability needs a cop to stand up
29:00the moment something happens.
29:06I come from a police family.
29:08My old man was in the cops for 36 years,
29:12and that was obviously all through the 80s.
29:15He had some great stories that he'd repeatedly tell me.
29:20I've come to the New South Wales central coast
29:23to meet Kurt Hayward,
29:24a former detective who spent 23 years in the force.
29:29This is a rare interview.
29:32Over three decades of reporting on police,
29:34I've almost never found a cop
29:36willing to break the wall of silence
29:38about allegations of misconduct.
29:41There it is, the old building up there
29:42with the police checkers out the front
29:44and the mirrored glass.
29:46In 2020, Kurt found himself
29:49at the centre of a high-profile case.
29:53Here's Starling!
29:54Away again!
29:56Tom Starling!
29:57Gets his...
29:58It had been a stellar year
29:59for 22-year-old Canberra Raiders hooker Tom Starling.
30:05Until he was involved in a violent incident
30:08with police at a bar
30:09on the New South Wales central coast.
30:12Starling's seen here tumbling down the stairs.
30:17You were obviously injured.
30:18What happened?
30:20Were you involved in the brawl?
30:22So you were in that cell, 6 in the morning.
30:24What's going through your head?
30:27It was a pretty dark place, to be honest with you, mate.
30:29I was just confused.
30:31I didn't know what was going on.
30:32I was...
30:33I was scared, to be honest with you.
30:37Tom Starling was charged with assaulting police
30:39and resisting arrest.
30:41He was also accused of taking hold of a detective's gun.
30:48Since you're a little kid,
30:50you're told the police are there to look after you
30:51and if you're in trouble, call the police.
30:53And when it's the police putting you in...putting you in that position,
30:57it's...you don't know where to turn to.
30:59Kurt Hayward was the detective tasked
31:01with working up a brief against the footballer.
31:04From the moment he took on the case,
31:06he believed it was his fellow officers who were in the wrong.
31:10I knew that it was going to cause a storm
31:12because NRL player, blatant police violence.
31:19One of the first things Kurt did was watch CCTV from the bar.
31:23I read the report and the charge sheet
31:26that was associated with the footage
31:29and saw a classic case of overcharging
31:33and trying to justify their actions
31:37by overcharging and saying things that just didn't happen.
31:46That's Tom Starling in the Red Circle,
31:49being dragged out and punched by a riot squad sergeant.
31:53He's knocked out.
31:56Then a local officer throws a few more.
32:06Kurt Hayward decided he had to report
32:09what he saw as police misconduct to his boss.
32:13I went to the crime manager
32:15and expressed my concerns with what's happening
32:17and we're watching the footage together
32:19and I'm saying, you know, there he is,
32:22punching an unconscious man three times.
32:24And I said it a few times in the conversation
32:27and the crime manager said,
32:28you keep saying that.
32:29I see a man who's resisting arrest,
32:31not a police officer punching another man,
32:34an unconscious man.
32:35Kurt says he was told the head of his entire command,
32:39the superintendent, thought police had done nothing wrong
32:42and if he disagreed, he'd have to go all the way to the top.
32:47I was in my office pondering for a little while about the situation
32:52and thought, alright, I'll write the career suicide note
32:56and report to the commissioner.
32:59Essentially, your view was, you were doing the right thing.
33:02You were reporting a clear case of misconduct
33:05and you thought, by doing that, you were probably going to end your career.
33:08Yeah.
33:11Kurt's complaint was a pivotal moment.
33:14It led to an internal investigation
33:16and the two officers who punched Tom Starling were charged.
33:24All this came at a cost for Kurt.
33:29Disillusioned, he quit the cops 18 months later.
33:33I didn't want to work for those people.
33:37If they've got that stance
33:39and they agree that those actions are justifiable and right,
33:42then that's not who I want to work for.
33:47There was also a cost for Tom Starling.
33:51It was hard to, I guess, show up sometimes
33:53and put that brave face on
33:55and pretend like it wasn't affecting me,
33:57but it 100% was.
33:58It just, as I said, I was a young kid trying to live out my dream
34:02and I used to go to games and just think,
34:03everyone used to think,
34:05oh, there's that, you know, there's that thug Tom Starling
34:07that, you know, assaulted police officers.
34:12And it's not over yet.
34:13It took two years and a 12-day trial
34:16for all the charges against him to be dismissed.
34:20The trial of the two officers who punched him
34:22is due to start next week,
34:25more than five years after the incident.
34:27They're pleading not guilty.
34:30Starling's planning to sue the police,
34:32but that won't even begin until the criminal case is resolved.
34:37It's hard because they're the ones
34:38that are supposed to be protecting you.
34:40Who do you go to to complain about them?
34:49It's a rare case that sees officers charged.
34:53More often, the consequences are unclear.
34:58I've seen that officer and I looked back
35:00and he waved and laughed at me.
35:03He made a comment and there was a security guard there
35:06and I said, see that officer there?
35:08He terribly assaulted me.
35:12Samantha Tessalamuta is a proud Wiradjuri woman from Sydney's south.
35:16She lives with bipolar disorder.
35:19She's been involved in a years-long dispute with neighbours
35:23that's seen police repeatedly called.
35:26So you were just out here listening to music
35:28and then suddenly you hear the banging on...
35:31Very loud banging.
35:32Very scary banging.
35:34And then you realise, well, they're telling you it's the police.
35:37Yes.
35:38It's the police, the police.
35:40Open up.
35:42What time is it?
35:43I looked at my phone.
35:44It was eight after eight.
35:54In January last year, police were called
35:57because Samantha was playing her music loudly.
36:01At the time, she was experiencing a manic episode.
36:06The incident was recorded on her mobile phone
36:09and home security camera.
36:11It's only 8.30 at night.
36:14I can hear it from...
36:15It doesn't matter.
36:15It's 8.30.
36:16It's 8.30, darling.
36:18So hoo-roo.
36:18On your way.
36:19On your way.
36:21On your way.
36:21On your way.
36:22Okay.
36:24I'm giving you an official noise abatement correction.
36:27Help!
36:28Help!
36:30Help!
36:31Help!
36:32Help!
36:34Help!
36:35Help!
36:36Help!
36:37Get back!
36:40Get back!
36:42Get back!
36:42Get back!
36:43Help!
36:45Help!
36:46Give me your arm!
36:51Help!
36:51Stop resisting!
36:52Oh!
36:54What are you doing with me?
36:54Dogs, get back!
36:56Dogs, get back!
36:57Oh!
36:58Get back!
36:58Oh!
36:59Give me your arm!
37:02Help!
37:03Help!
37:03The junior officer, who has less than a year on the job, threatens to taser her.
37:08Help!
37:10Help!
37:11Help!
37:12Help!
37:13Stop resisting!
37:14Help!
37:15Help!
37:15Help me!
37:17Behind you!
37:17Behind you!
37:18They're hurting me really bad!
37:19He's a selfie!
37:21He's a selfie!
37:22Over the course of two minutes, the officers punch Samantha repeatedly while she's face down
37:28on the ground.
37:28Call me an ambulance!
37:30Stop!
37:30Oh!
37:32Stop fucking resisting!
37:33Stop fucking resisting!
37:34Oh!
37:34Don't punch me in the back!
37:35He was on camera, come and watch him!
37:37He was putting knees into my ribs and punching me down from the back.
37:43It was very scary, just the amount of force that was put in with the fists.
37:47I couldn't believe it.
37:50Samantha was taken to the police station.
37:52The officers intended to charge her with assaulting police, but the arrest was discontinued.
37:59Hayley Sharnock is Samantha's NDIS Support Coordinator.
38:02What do you think, what's the change been in her, like when you look at pre and post that
38:08incident?
38:08There was a massive decline she spent, she was going quite well.
38:13She'd have ups and downs, but after the police assault, she had a massive decline in
38:18the mental health and was scheduled for about two to three months under the Mental Health Act.
38:23So like forcibly detained?
38:25That's right.
38:26Within weeks of the incident?
38:29Yeah, I think it was about six weeks.
38:32A year after the incident, with her mental health spiralling, Samantha ended up in jail
38:38on remand over a series of AVOs.
38:42There was a whole massive ripple effect in terms of the impact on the family that the
38:48assault had, and I think that's what these officers don't realise.
38:52Police told Four Corners they'd investigated and taken appropriate action against the two
38:58officers.
38:59More than a year later, they're still working at Samantha's local police station.
39:04I don't understand the police force when police do the wrong thing.
39:10How does the superintendents or the ones in charge deal with those matters?
39:15Like, should they not send them to another area or, um, yeah.
39:22Why is it a problem for you that they're still in this area?
39:25Because it's traumatic.
39:26If, um, someone decides to call the police and he rocks up here and decides to have another
39:33get... to hurt me again.
39:36There was no need for any sort of physical contact.
39:39There was certainly no need for police to have entered or attempted to enter her home.
39:44And there was certainly never a need for her to be, uh, forcibly and physically dealt with
39:51in the manner in which she was.
39:52So, this is a noise complaint after all.
39:57Peter O'Brien is helping Samantha in her fight for compensation.
40:01But even he acknowledges that settlements allow police to avoid accountability.
40:07Whilst the plaintiff might get compensated for what happened adequately,
40:12the flip side is that what is actually happening out there can go largely unspoken and unknown.
40:18And, uh, if it's... and the possibility of, uh, repeat or recidivist police officers conducting themselves
40:27badly, poorly or unlawfully or brutality is an ongoing problem that can be perpetuated by that system.
40:35Yes.
40:36Have you come across that?
40:38Yes.
40:39There's certainly instances where we've seen the same police officers, uh, again and again
40:44been named in...in statements of claim, uh, that have been taken against the...the state.
40:52Policing is difficult and dangerous work.
40:55Every day, police respond to situations involving violence and mental illness.
40:59Most do so with care.
41:01But this investigation is about what happens when officers abuse their power
41:06and whether the system is strong enough to hold them to account.
41:12Four Corners asked New South Wales police for an interview.
41:16They declined.
41:18In a statement, police told us they're reviewing the rules around body-worn video.
41:23And that they have clear requirements that make it mandatory for officers to report misconduct.
41:35It's a brave person who sees the police.
41:38You have to have a very strong case.
41:42Some people in this program have or will receive compensation.
41:48But that's not accountability.
41:51And for many of them, it's not true justice.
41:57If police turned up here right now, what would be your concern?
42:02Oh, my heart would just start pumping.
42:04My blood pressure would be going up.
42:08Yeah.
42:09Very scared.
42:12Yeah, it's something that's always only there.
42:13You still Google my name, it's still there.
42:15The video's there and, you know, the initial headlines and everything is still there.
42:18It's not that never go away, just the fall out of it all.
42:25And we hope that this gives her her voice.
42:28Her voice, her face and rest at peace.
42:31Right.
42:32Yeah.
42:33It gives her a name to Australia.
42:34This was our cousin.
42:36We were proud and we loved her to death.
42:38Always have and always will.
42:40She had a face.
42:41She had a name.
42:42And it was Jodie.
42:45Her beloved cousin.
43:18If this program has raised any concerns for you, you can contact one of the following services.
Comments