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| NSW police officers jailed for assaulting woman suffering mental health episode during welfare check | NSW police officers jailed for assaulting woman suffering mental health episode during welfare check |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Nathan Black, 28, and Timothy John Trautsch, 30, sentenced to at least three years in prison for attack in Sydney in 2023 | Nathan Black, 28, and Timothy John Trautsch, 30, sentenced to at least three years in prison for attack in Sydney in 2023 |
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| Two police officers who punched, kicked and pepper-sprayed a naked woman experiencing a mental health episode will spend the next three years behind bars. | Two police officers who punched, kicked and pepper-sprayed a naked woman experiencing a mental health episode will spend the next three years behind bars. |
| Nathan Black, 28, and Timothy John Trautsch, 30, were sentenced in the Penrith district court in Sydney on Friday. | Nathan Black, 28, and Timothy John Trautsch, 30, were sentenced in the Penrith district court in Sydney on Friday. |
| Black was sentenced to five years and nine months’ prison with a non-parole period of three years and three months. Trautsch was sentenced to five years and six months’ prison with a non-parole of three years. | Black was sentenced to five years and nine months’ prison with a non-parole period of three years and three months. Trautsch was sentenced to five years and six months’ prison with a non-parole of three years. |
| The officers were conducting a welfare check on the 48-year-old woman in an industrial cul-de-sac in Sydney’s west on 22 January 2023. | The officers were conducting a welfare check on the 48-year-old woman in an industrial cul-de-sac in Sydney’s west on 22 January 2023. |
| The pair tried to get the woman into an ambulance and to hospital. | The pair tried to get the woman into an ambulance and to hospital. |
| Photos produced at Penrith district court on Friday show the pair’s violence escalating during an 18-minute assault against the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons. | Photos produced at Penrith district court on Friday show the pair’s violence escalating during an 18-minute assault against the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons. |
| Judge Graham Turnbull labelled the attack as committed and disgraceful before delivering his sentence. | Judge Graham Turnbull labelled the attack as committed and disgraceful before delivering his sentence. |
| “It is clearly calculated in my view to inflict the maximum pain and discomfort,” he said. | “It is clearly calculated in my view to inflict the maximum pain and discomfort,” he said. |
| The woman was pushed on to the road, kicked twice in the head, dragged along by her hair and punched. At one stage, the two officers struggled trying to handcuff her on the ground as she lashed out with her arms. | The woman was pushed on to the road, kicked twice in the head, dragged along by her hair and punched. At one stage, the two officers struggled trying to handcuff her on the ground as she lashed out with her arms. |
| She was pepper-sprayed six times – twice in the face and once on her back, which was grazed after falling onto the road. | She was pepper-sprayed six times – twice in the face and once on her back, which was grazed after falling onto the road. |
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| Some of the pepper spray got on to her genitals, the court was told. | Some of the pepper spray got on to her genitals, the court was told. |
| The officers’ barrister, Chris Micali, had previously admitted the attack had gone further than necessary. But he denied that gratuitous cruelty was involved and submitted that the incident was born out of frustration and a lack of success. | The officers’ barrister, Chris Micali, had previously admitted the attack had gone further than necessary. But he denied that gratuitous cruelty was involved and submitted that the incident was born out of frustration and a lack of success. |
| The woman had been lashing out at the police officers and was verbally aggressive. Court documents reveal she had been prescribed an antipsychotic but was not taking the medication. | The woman had been lashing out at the police officers and was verbally aggressive. Court documents reveal she had been prescribed an antipsychotic but was not taking the medication. |
| The judge conceded the situation would have been confronting for the officers because the woman was belligerent, abusive and challenging. | |
| But Turnbull did not accept the “gym-hardened officers in their 20s” were at risk of injury or serious harm. | |
| The officers made no attempt to use anything other than striking force to constrain the woman, the judge said. | The officers made no attempt to use anything other than striking force to constrain the woman, the judge said. |
| “All of this is in the face of someone who clearly may have been best approached in a kindly manner,” he said. “These policemen were in a position of authority and in a position of trust.” | “All of this is in the face of someone who clearly may have been best approached in a kindly manner,” he said. “These policemen were in a position of authority and in a position of trust.” |
| Black pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, using a prohibited weapon without a permit and three counts of common assault. He admitted intentionally publishing protected information after sending snippets of body-worn footage to another police officer. | Black pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, using a prohibited weapon without a permit and three counts of common assault. He admitted intentionally publishing protected information after sending snippets of body-worn footage to another police officer. |
| Trautsch pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, three counts of common assault and one count of using a prohibited weapon without a permit. | Trautsch pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, three counts of common assault and one count of using a prohibited weapon without a permit. |
| The woman was charged with assault but the charges were dropped when Black’s body-worn footage was viewed by other officers. | The woman was charged with assault but the charges were dropped when Black’s body-worn footage was viewed by other officers. |
| The acting NSW police commissioner, David Hudson, condemned the actions of the former officers, describing their behaviour as “unforgivable”. | The acting NSW police commissioner, David Hudson, condemned the actions of the former officers, describing their behaviour as “unforgivable”. |
| Both officers were removed from the force after an internal investigation. | |
| “As a police officer of over 40 years, this is one of the worst examples of contravening our core values and ethics I have ever seen,” Hudson said. | |
| “It is simply not what we stand for as police who make a pledge to protect the community.” | “It is simply not what we stand for as police who make a pledge to protect the community.” |
| He said their behaviour was not acceptable at any level within the NSW police. | He said their behaviour was not acceptable at any level within the NSW police. |
| “I’m very sorry for what the victim endured, especially when it was at the hands of police officers who were called there to assist her,” he said. |