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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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A policeman facing
assault charges after allegedly beating and verbally abusing three young
complainants on three separate occasions appeared in the Papakura District
Court yesterday. Senior Sergeant Anthony
Solomona of Manukau-Wiri police faces five charges of assault and one of
assault with a weapon, stemming from incidents alleged to have happened last
February and March. He denies the charges,
and is on bail. Opening the case for
the prosecution, Robert Fardell, QC, said that in the first incident Solomona
was on patrol in Manurewa. After encountering a group of young people at a
service station, he allegedly drove his patrol car into the driver's side
doors of Angelo Turner's Toyota Corolla car. After Mr Turner
remonstrated with him, Solomona allegedly manhandled the 17-year-old into the
police car, deliberately bashing his head against the roof-mounted lights in
the process. Mr Turner later spent
about 15 minutes handcuffed to a fence in Mangere while Solomona and his
partner attended an armed offenders squad callout. When he asked the
officers why he was handcuffed to a fence, he was told to be quiet or he
would be shot. Solomona allegedly told
Mr Turner that if he ever saw him in South Auckland again, "you're going
down". When Mr Turner said he
lived in South Auckland, Solomona replied, "I don't give a ****. You
will be my bitch". Mr Turner told the
court that at no time was he arrested, told his rights or cautioned.
"The only thing he said to me was abuse." The youth was finally
released without charge. Two other complainants
have yet to be heard, but Mr Fardell said they would tell the court of being
punched, physically threatened and verbally abused by Solomona. The charge of
assault with a weapon was laid after Solomona allegedly bruised one
complainant's chin and lip with a baton. Six witnesses gave
evidence for the prosecution yesterday. Mr Turner's girlfriend at the time,
Kellyanne Corbett, told the court that Solomona had never threatened Mr
Turner with arrest before he took him away. "They didn't say
he was under arrest or anything, so I didn't know why they were taking him
away." Ms Corbett also
rejected suggestions from defence counsel John Haigh, QC, that Mr Turner was
a boy racer. "I would hardly say he was a boy racer in a Corolla." If he was a boy racer,
his car "would be faster ... and not a 1300cc". Constable Malcolm
Westerlund, who was on patrol with Solomona on the night of the alleged
incident, also gave evidence, but could remember no details about Mr Turner
being picked up. Asked why he stayed in the patrol car while Solomona dealt
with Mr Turner, he replied: "He is the senior sergeant, he is the boss.
He doesn't need my assistance." Mr Westerlund did,
however, give details of an incident in the Wiri police station involving
Solomona. He said that in the
muster room, he had found a digital photograph of a young Polynesian man with
a sign around his neck bearing the words, "I belong to Senior Sergeant
Solomona". Solomona was angry when
confronted with the picture, and "growled" at the constable.
Solomona considered the behaviour shown in the picture was
"unprofessional", the court heard. The hearing, before
Judge Bruce Davidson, is set down for two weeks. |
