09.49 am, Thursday May 24 2012

Officer knew tasered man report wrong: CCC

17:55 AEDT Wed Dec 15 2010
Josh Jerga
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A Perth police officer was told not to amend a statement of facts used to prosecute tasered man Kevin Spratt despite knowing it was misleading, a corruption hearing has heard.

Mr Spratt was tasered 14 times by police officers at Perth Watchhouse on August 31 2008 after he was arrested in the eastern suburb of Bayswater following reports of a man acting in a disorderly manner.

Detective Constable Brett Fowler and Sergeant Aaron Strahan attempted to apprehend the Aboriginal man, who is now 41, before he became violently aggressive towards the officers.

Mr Spratt kicked out at both men, connecting with Det Const Fowler's wrist and causing a lump while his toenails cut Snr Const Strahan's right thumb.

As a result, Mr Spratt was charged with two counts of assaulting a public officer and one count of obstructing a public officer.

According to a statement of material facts written by Det Const Fowler and tendered to the Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) hearing, Mr Spratt refused to comply with a strip search and resisted police by holding onto a seat.

"He again became violent and aggressive towards police who were attempting to restrain him by kicking and flailing his arms ... as they approached him," the statement said.

"The Taser was deployed to prevent any injury to the police or the accused."

As a result of Mr Spratt's alleged actions, a fourth charge of obstructing a public officer was laid against Spratt.

But it was revealed the statement of material facts the charge was based on contradicts CCTV footage of the incident which does not show Mr Spratt becoming violent towards police before being tasered.

On Wednesday, counsel assisting the commission Peter Quinlan put to Det Const Fowler that his statement of material facts was misleading.

"The facts as they're written there present a misleading picture of what occurred at the time that Mr Spratt was first tasered," Mr Quinlan asked.

Det Const Fowler agreed but said it was based on the recounts of the officers present.

"It was based on what I was told by the officers there dealing with the initial incident," he said.

The inaccuracy of the statement came to Det Const Fowler's attention during his interview with the internal investigations unit a month later when he was shown the CCTV footage.

Det Const Fowler told the CCC hearing he raised the issue after seeing the footage and remembers asking someone whether it should be amended but was what told to leave it.

About four months later the statement of material facts was used to prosecute Mr Spratt, who pleaded guilty to all the charges of assaulting and obstructing public officers.

Mr Spratt subsequently served time in prison.

The CCC is inquiring into whether any members of WA Police or the Department of Corrective Services engaged in misconduct during Mr Spratt's repeated tasering while in custody.

The hearing before Commissioner Len Roberts-Smith will conclude on Friday.

 

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