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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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Officer denies beatings Alleged beatings of
some suspects, the humiliation of others and the "shabby" treatment
of police files came under scrutiny when a senior South Auckland policeman
gave evidence in his own defence yesterday. Senior Sergeant Anthony
Solomona - who faces four charges of assault and one of assault with a weapon
- dismissed as "absolutely false" accusations that he beat and
abused three suspects, in separate incidents, in February and March last
year. During questioning by
his lawyer, John Haigh, QC, Solomona gave the Papakura District Court his
version of events surrounding the three charges. He denied assaulting
17-year-old Angelo Turner by smashing his head against the lights of his
police car. Mr Turner had been one
of a group allegedly abusing Solomona after he had accidentally driven into
the driver's side of Turner's car. Solomona told the court
he arrested Mr Turner for disorderly behaviour and breaching the peace. He
had arrested him in order to shut down a confrontation that could have got
out of hand, he said. "My experience as
a police officer has shown that in situations where we have one person who is
quite vocal, it is important to act quickly." Solomona also denied he
had beaten up Richard Southon, the second of the three complainants. Southon was arrested
after allegedly cutting off an off-duty policeman while he was backing out of
a driveway. He alleged Solomona
punched him in the stomach at the arrest scene, then beat him "10 or 15
times" in the chest while interviewing him at the station. The third complainant,
who has permanent name suppression, claimed Solomona punched him in the chest
and hit him in the chest, mouth and chin with a kilikiti bat - a large
Polynesian cricket bat. Solomona denied both those allegations. The youth, who was 16
at the time of the incident, had earlier told the court he was left with no
marks after being hit with the bat, so Solomona produced a bat for the court.
At about 1.5m long, it resembled a quartered fence post, with a flax-and-rope
handle. "I know that,
without a doubt, it would have left some visible injuries and he would have
had swelling and bruising," the defendant said. Evidence was heard
earlier in the week of a photograph allegedly taken of the youth, wearing a
sign saying "I belong to Senior Sergeant Solomona". Such pictures
were considered "a joke" by some officers, Solomona said. During cross
examination by prosecutor Robert Fardell, QC, Solomona admitted that he had
treated some police files relating to Mr Turner "quite shabbily". |
