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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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The teenagers whose
allegations have sparked an investigation into what a judge called a
"sick" culture in the police want to put the matter behind them,
says a man close to the group. This week, Senior
Sergeant Anthony Laime Solomona was found guilty of assault. Judge Bruce Davidson,
delivering his verdict, condemned the heavy-handed techniques of some police
and said the "sick" culture might be reasonably widespread,
especially in South Auckland. Solomona was found
guilty of assaulting Angelo Turner, then aged 17, on the forecourt of a
Manurewa service station in February last year. He had been arresting him on
a charge of breaching the peace. Solomona was acquitted
on three other assault charges and one of assault with a weapon. A sixth
charge was dismissed. A source close to Mr
Turner and his friends - a number of whom gave evidence at Solomona's trial -
said the group faced an anxious wait until Solomona was sentenced. He said Mr Turner felt
the court system had let him down when it found Solomona guilty on only one
of the six charges. "Given that there
were six charges against him and only one got through, it feels like a bit of
a waste of time," said the source, the father of one of Mr Turner's
friends. A date for Solomona's
sentencing will be set in the Manukau District Court next week. His lawyer,
John Haigh, QC, is expected to ask for a discharge without conviction. The man said the group
had for a time harboured fears of retaliation from members of Solomona's
team, but now they wanted to put the matter behind them and get on with life.
"It has taken a
year out of their lives ... but they don't regret what they have done at this
stage." The father said Mr
Turner and his friends wanted to keep a low profile until Solomona had been
dealt with by the court. Following the judge's
criticisms of police practices, including a photograph of a 15-year-old boy
wearing a sign that read, "I belong to Senior Sergeant Solomona", the
police have started an investigation into the Wiri station in South Auckland
and officers aligned to Solomona. A spokesman for Police
Minister George Hawkins said the investigation was a matter for the police.
Mr Hawkins was satisfied the investigation was an appropriate response to the
judge's comments. |
