Media Release - Presentation of Operation Corwen report

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission has found that three NSW Police Force Officers engaged in serious misconduct in the course of the detaining of a woman at a Sydney police station on 9 April 2016.

20 September 2018

Media Release

RELEASE OF REPORT ON LECC OPERATION CORWEN

The Commission’s Operation Corwen held private hearings to investigate whether any officers were:

Involved in serious misconduct in relation to the arrest of Ms A* on 9 April 2016 and the subsequent prosecution of Ms A for offences allegedly committed on 9 April 2016.

Ms A was arrested in the early hours of 9 April 2016 after failing to comply with a move on direction. Ms A was taken to the police station and while being moved from the police vehicle to the holding area Ms A was pulled by Officer 1, face down, with her hands handcuffed behind her back. Officer 1 used one hand to hold Ms A around the upper arm area and Officer 6 took hold of Ms A’s right foot as she was pulled along the ground by Officer 1. The remaining officers trailed behind and observed.

Police alleged that, before these events whilst Ms A was being restrained she struck out and hit Officers 1 and 3. This resulted in Ms A being charged with two offences of assault, in addition to behaving in an offensive manner and refusing to comply with a direction to move on.

The criminal proceedings against Ms A were heard in the Downing Centre Local Court on 28 October 2016 and 2, 3 and 20 March 2017. All charges were dismissed and the presiding Magistrate expressed concern about the inconsistency between the evidence of police and the conduct depicted on the CCTV footage.

The Commission held private hearings to examine the officers who were involved in the detention of Ms A and her subsequent prosecution.

Findings

The Commission found that three officers engaged in serious misconduct.

The Commission found four officers involved engaged in unsatisfactory performance.

The Commission made no findings against three officers.

The Operation Corwen report and associated footage can be found on the Commission website.

Background

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission is an independent statutory body. The principal functions of the Commission are to detect, investigate and expose serious misconduct and serious maladministration within the NSW Police Force and the NSW Crime Commission.

The Commission is separate from and completely independent of the NSW Police Force and NSW Crime Commission. The Commission will treat all information confidentially and has powers to protect persons who provide information to it.

* Codenames have been used in the report to protect the identities of the involved persons.

MEDIA: Louisa Dear, 0425 317 535