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🇬🇧 United Kingdom /Crime & Justice

Court ends case against police charged over tasering and pepper spraying ‘vulnerable’ First Nations man

From The Guardian · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • A court has permanently stayed the case against two police officers accused of assaulting a vulnerable First Nations man in custody.
  • The decision was based on "defects" in the investigation, including a detective inserting a "false" account into the victim's statement.
  • The judge ruled that a fair trial could not be guaranteed due to the flawed investigation, despite prosecutors arguing for the trial to proceed.

A court has permanently halted the prosecution of two senior constables, Andrew David Couchman, 54, and Ulrich Weiss, 45, who faced criminal charges related to the use of force against a "cognitively and emotionally vulnerable" First Nations man in police custody. The case, stemming from an incident at the Mareeba watch house in far north Queensland in January 2024, was stayed after the court identified significant "defects" in the subsequent police investigation.

defects

— Court judgmentDescribing the flaws found in the investigation of the case.

District Court Judge Dean Morzone KC found that while the sequence of events inside the watch house was not disputed, the officers could not receive a fair trial. This determination was primarily due to a detective inserting a paragraph into the alleged victim's statement that was not derived from his interviews. This paragraph claimed the man "did not consent" to being Tasered, sprayed, or restrained, despite evidence suggesting he did not understand the meaning of consent.

false

— Court judgmentDescribing an account inserted into the victim's statement by a detective.

Prosecutors had argued that the trial should continue in the public interest, emphasizing the need to protect vulnerable detainees and maintain public confidence in police investigations. However, Judge Morzone rejected this, stating, "Public confidence in this instance has two faces, and they do not both look the same way." He concluded that a fair trial was impossible under the circumstances.

Public confidence in this instance has two faces, and they do not both look the same way.

— District court judge Dean Morzone KCExplaining his decision to halt the trial due to flawed investigation.

The judgment detailed the events of January 20, 2024, where the 23-year-old First Nations man, diagnosed with schizophrenia and described by the court as vulnerable, requested medication. During the interaction, he was pepper-sprayed, Tasered four times, and left restrained in a solitary confinement cell. The man had reportedly been experiencing auditory hallucinations and was not taking his medication at the time. He later stated the officers "just did what they had to do" and that the Taser use was "necessary 'cause I was being a dick."

did not consent

— Court judgmentReferring to a paragraph inserted into the victim's statement that was not based on his interviews.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Guardian. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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