SURVEILLANCE footage of the alleged assault of a woman in police custody has been played in court as one police officer fights a charge of perjury in court.
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Sergeant Anthony Kirk is accused of fabricating false evidence with intent to mislead a judicial tribunal as well as making a false statement on oath amounting to perjury.
He has denied both charges, which stem from an alleged assault by his co-accused Nigel Douglas Kentish in Armidale Police Station in September, 2009, on Janel Boekeman.
Kentish, who is no longer in the force, did not appear in Armidale Local Court on Monday when the case was called after the court was told he had suffered a serious medical condition.
The court heard Kentish had suffered a bleed on the brain recently.
“The medical evidence is that injuries are quite serious,” agent solicitor David Carroll told the court.
Kentish was due to face a week long hearing in court starting Monday on nine charges including assault occasioning actual bodily harm, fabricating evidence with intent to mislead a judicial tribunal, making false statements on oath amounting perjury and giving false evidence at a hearing before a commission.
On Monday, his defence requested the case be adjourned for one month.
“It’s unknown whether he will ever recover fully … ,” Mr Carroll told the court.
“It’s a worry isn’t it,” Magistrate Michael Holmes replied.
“I’ll adjourn the matter purely to a DPP mention date.”
On Monday, solicitor for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Laura Goodwin said the hearing on Kirk’s alleged involvement would proceed and said the first charge against him relied on one line of evidence in his official police statement dated September, 2009.
“Boekeman threw herself back into the dock and lay down on the dock chair. This caused Senior Constable Kentish to fall into the dock,” Ms Goodwin read to the court.
The second charge relies on the transcript of evidence Sergeant Kirk gave at a hearing in Armidale Local Court on July 27, 2010 where he allegedly said “Senior Constable Kentish went to grab the accused, she has thrown herself back on the dock and pulled Senior Constable Kentish in on top of her.”
Sergeant Kirk is not charged over the alleged assault.
The court was shown four times CCTV of the alleged assault in the second dock, or cell of the police station, and Sergeant Kirk can be seen in the custody room.
The footage appears to show Sergeant Kirk standing back, leaning on a counter and talking to another officer when the alleged assault occurred.
“That is the essential part of the footage,” Ms Goodwin told the court, adding there was no other CCTV available of the incident.
Kirk’s solicitor Mr Carroll said there was “an obvious obstruction” by the officer who was inside the cell, and said another officer in the room had provided the same perspective in his evidence.
Mr Carroll said there “was no defence case” and no cross examination of witnesses was required.
“In terms of what we see is the fundamental issue,” he said.
“It relies obviously on an angle which wasn’t the perspective of Sergeant Kirk.”
Mr Carroll said there was “a short issue” and “clearly it’s a question of what did he say.
“The intent can be proved circumstantially,” he said.
He also told the court his client had never been provided the CCTV of the incident as an exhibit and questioned on it during previous proceedings.
A lengthy police brief was tendered in court along with the video and Magistrate Holmes adjourned the hearing to consider the evidence.