Latest news with #policeabuse
ABC News
28-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Woman abused by former NSW Police officer Jonathan Charles Bettles talks of 'emotional turmoil'
A woman who endured a string of domestic violence offences by a NSW Police officer has told a court of her "constant emotional turmoil" and lingering trauma, saying the "betrayal cuts deeper" because of the uniform he once wore. Jonathan Charles Bettles pleaded guilty to 14 charges in December, which were committed over a period of about 18 months to mid-2021 against a woman with whom he was in a relationship. The 37-year-old on Wednesday faced a sentence hearing in Burwood Local Court, where his lawyer accepted it was a "very serious course of offending". His charges include five counts of common assault, six of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two of destroying or damaging property and one of doing an act to pervert the course of justice. In a victim impact statement read by her daughter, the woman outlined how she no longer feels safe, relies on antidepressant medication to cope, and carries the weight of trauma. She said the abuse represented a "breaking point that has reshaped my entire life". "Since these events, I have lived my life in constant emotional turmoil," she said in the statement. "The trauma never fades, it lingers … It wakes me up in the middle of the night, it follows me during the day like a shadow I can't escape. The woman said the crimes have led to her pushing away friends and distancing herself from family members. It was made worse, she said, because they were committed by a "violent and toxic" man who'd sworn to serve and protect the community. "The betrayal cuts deeper from that uniform he once wore," she said. "I feared that no-one would believe me because of who he was." The magistrate was told the woman was lucky to have had people in her support network who did believe her. She said she now wants justice not only for herself, but for all those who've endured domestic violence. The court heard the conduct included demeaning acts such as pouring Coke over the woman and incidents of actual striking, along with attempted influence over her to make a false report to police. Defence lawyer Bryan Wrench argued for his client to be spared a custodial sentence and instead be placed on an intensive correction order, saying Bettles had been held on remand for about six months and served approximately 14 in home detention. Mr Wrench said without "diluting" what occurred, the offences were committed against a backdrop of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) acquired from his client's role as a police officer. The former senior constable, who joined the force in 2013, took two weeks off due to his mental health in May 2021 and was then on medical leave until he was charged in September 2023. "The mental health issues are severe," Mr Wrench submitted. Mr Wrench said Bettles was granted Supreme Court bail largely to allow him to continue receiving treatment from a psychologist and psychiatrist, describing the incidents as "all singular acts of violence". The Crown Prosecutor disputed that they could be characterised as "singular outbursts" but rather a "series of events", while accepting PTSD was a matter to be taken into account. The Crown argued material before the court showed what appeared to be an "unwillingness" to accept responsibility for the conduct. Bettles, who is no longer employed by NSW Police, will be sentenced on Monday afternoon.
The Guardian
18-05-2025
- The Guardian
‘Absolutely no evidence': how NSW police backflipped on unlawful strip-search
Raya Meredith was at one of Australia's biggest music festivals when a drug detection dog sniffed in her direction. The dog then walked on, the New South Wakes supreme court recently heard, but police officers stopped her. They took her bag and searched it. The 27-year-old, who was postpartum at the time, was then taken into a makeshift tarpaulin, where a female police officer asked her to take all her clothes off, bend over and bare her bottom, drop her breasts and remove her tampon. At one point, a male officer walked in unannounced. The search found no drugs and nothing else illegal. 'It was a horrible thing to go through,' Meredith said in emotional testimony on the first day of a class action against the state of NSW about the search. But so too, Meredith told the court, was the 'gaslighting' she endured for years by the police force who denied her version of events, leaving her feeling 'violated, yet again'. Shortly before a class action against the NSW police began almost two weeks ago, the force back flipped and admitted in court documents to unlawfully strip-searching her. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email 'It was difficult to have police officers, who were there, who saw it, say I was lying,' she said. Meredith is the lead plaintiff of a class action that wrapped up this week, which was brought by Slater and Gordon Lawyers and the Redfern Legal Centre against the state of NSW over allegedly unlawful strip-searches conducted by police, including of children. Three thousand people have signed on to the class action, but the affected cohort could be twice as large. The case did not just focus on Meredith's evidence or police practices when it comes to conducting strip-searches. A large portion of closing arguments this week went to the police's conduct throughout the case. For two years, until just before the proceedings began, the police denied the search of Meredith was unlawful, arguing they had had 'reasonable suspicion' based on her demeanour and body language. The police had called 22 witnesses, mostly police officers, to contradict Meredith's version of events. But in the days before the hearing began, the police withdrew their witnesses. Meredith was the only witness to appear, taking the case down from the scheduled 20 days to just five. The police had also attempted to subpoena Meredith's medical history even though she had not made a personal injury claim. 'The plaintiff's evidence was, 'If I could have walked out of this case then and there I would have,'' Kylie Nomchong SC, who acted on behalf of the plaintiffs, told the court. 'We say the issue of the subpoena was a strategic one designed to and having the effect of intimidating [Meredith] and that's exactly what it did.' Nomchong said the police should pay aggravated damages due to their conduct during the class action. She told the court the police had made the 'outrageous' submission 'asking your honour to infer that it was objectively necessary to search the plaintiff's breasts and genital area' … without any evidence whatsoever'. 'It's just offensive,' Nomchong said. Two of the witnesses the police force withdrew were the female police officer who conducted the search and the male officer who walked in unannounced. 'The only available inference is that any evidence from those police officers would not have assisted the defendant,' Nomchong said. Julian Sexton SC defended the police's conduct in the case during his closing argument, saying aggravated damages could not be awarded because Meredith had not been recalled to give evidence about how she felt about NSW police's conduct during the class action. However Justice Dina Yehia, who oversaw the case, said she was concerned about their conduct. Specifically, the police having had three iterations of its defence before backflipping shortly before proceedings began to admit it did unlawfully strip-search Meredith. 'That is a matter, I'll be quite honest with you, of grave concern to me,' Yehia said on Thursday. The judge said she was concerned that the police defence suggested officers had formed a reasonable suspicion to strip-search Meredith based on 'things like her demeanour, what was said outside the tent, and [the officers] recalling it was said outside the tent and not inside'. 'There is absolutely no evidence, unless you can take me to it and I've missed something,' Yehia said to Sexton. 'All I have is the officers' statements that say either they don't remember the search, or both that they don't remember the search nor remember the lead plaintiff. In those circumstances, I'm just not sure how this could ever have proceeded in the way that it did with the initial pleadings.' Sexton responded that the defence was based on police 'practice' in such instances, adding it was 'not [based] on distinct recollections of somebody'. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion He also defended the attempt to subpoena Meredith's medical records, saying: 'There is nothing inherently objectionable about issuing a subpoena' and rebutted claims it was designed to intimidate Meredith. 'It was not issued for an improper purpose. There's no evidence to that effect, he told the court. In her opening arguments, Nomchong had told the court that Meredith's circumstance, as lead plaintiff, was not unique, but demonstrative of systemic failures. 'This is an extraordinary case, but not an isolated one, it is at the serious end, but not the most serious.' She argued the vast majority of strip-searches conducted by state police between 2018 and 2022 at music festivals were unlawful because they did not meet the legal threshold for being carried out in serious and urgent circumstances, and argued they were instead treated as 'routine'. Of issue, Nomchong told the court, was also that police knew drug detection dogs are only accurate 30% of the time. Yet they continue to use them as the primary justification for searches. 'That was something the police service knew yet we saw COPS event after COPS event,' she said, referring to the Computerised Operational Policing System database, 'where the only indication for the event was drug dog indication'. She told the court that before the 2018 Splendour in the Grass festival where Meredith was searched, police had little direction on how to conduct a lawful strip-search, and that officers had received 'absolutely negligible' training at the academy and as part of ongoing mandatory training. She argued this was a statewide issue. '[This] didn't just happen during the Splendour in the Grass event, it's happening across the state in relation to all of the music festivals,' Nomchong told the court. 'Same input, same result.' But Sexton disputed these claims, saying each case would have to be considered individually. He also pointed to figures which showed there had been few complaints about unlawful strip-searches between 2016 and 2018. He argued strip-searches at music festivals did fall within legal criteria that police can carry out a strip-search in serious and urgent circumstances, because the searches were 'trying to stop people dying'. 'The urgency of the circumstance is that if the strip-search is not conducted, the drug … will either be consumed or disposed of,' Sexton told the court. He also said that after a dog indicates it has detected drugs, police can then arrest on their own trained assessment such as how a person is behaving. Turning to claims that police considered strip-searches as a matter of 'routine', Sexton disputed this, saying: '[There's a] very, very, very small number of people who are being searched.' The court heard there were 36,000 people at the 2018 Splendour in the Grass. The court was told 148 people were strip-searched and 50 others were searched clothed. Sexton also contradicted claims by Nomchong that police were not adequately directed or trained. 'This isn't about teaching your grandmother to suck eggs, this is about an operational order to experienced policemen,' he said. Closing arguments ended on Friday.
Sky News
16-05-2025
- Sky News
Police watchdog to investigate mother's claim she was unlawfully strip-searched by Greater Manchester Police
A mother's complaint she was unlawfully strip-searched by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) will be investigated by the police watchdog. It follows a "lonely, exhausting and distressing" battle by Dannika Stewart, who was featured in a Sky News investigation after she was arrested and allegedly forced to strip at Pendleton Police Station in October 2022. Ms Stewart claimed she was being punished for complaining about police failures over a crime she had reported. She was asked to come to the police station and on arriving was told the man she'd accused had made an accusation against her of blackmail. She told Sky News she was arrested and told to strip naked. She said: "I took my tracksuit bottoms off, which I knew they were going to take away from me anyway. I took my leggings off and then took my knickers off and I'm just sat there naked." She said she was left naked while officers walked in and out of the cell. "It's all about power," she said. "Because when I left the police station that day the sergeant on the desk said, 'you need to drop all your complaints against the police'." Our investigation into the treatment of several women prompted Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to call an inquiry into the custody practices of GMP which was conducted by Dame Vera Baird. Dame Vera's report into allegations by several women found officers were "using their power unwisely, unnecessarily, and sometimes unlawfully". Turned 'from a victim into a suspect' After publication she told Sky News "based on almost nothing, GMP turned Ms Stewart from a victim into a suspect". Dame Vera said Ms Stewart remained on bail with the threat of being charged with blackmail for months without any apparent evidence to support the allegations against her. She added: "I think she was, in truth, bullied. The strip search is denied, but she is so clear and so humiliated when she repeats what happened that I'm inclined very much to believe her." Ms Stewart described this period on bail as "very lonely, exhausting, empty and distressing". She said: "It was hard for my mind to consider anything alternative every day over and over, wondering if I was about to go to jail for something I didn't do. I constantly thought of potential solutions to free myself from the nightmare the police projected onto me. My brain never went offline at night, and the longer it has gone on." 'A disputed set of facts' However, following the inquiry, Chief Constable Stephen Watson told Sky News he didn't know if Ms Stewart was strip-searched because "there is a disputed set of facts". Responding, Ms Stewart said: "If you are still denying something after an independent investigation, you are in denial, aren't you, as a force?" Now the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has decided her complaints relating to her interactions with officers while in custody, including how she was searched, should be independently investigated. In response a GMP spokesperson said: "We have apologised unreservedly to Ms Stewart for the matters where the service we provided her was not acceptable, and for the distress caused by her experiences with the police. "Our Professional Standards Directorate thoroughly investigated all allegations made and will now fully assist the IOPC with their enquiries. "In implementing all the recommendations of Dame Vera Baird's report in the past year, we have significantly improved provisions for those in our custody - particularly women and girls - by ending the use of strip search for welfare purposes and by ensuring all female detainees are assigned a dedicated welfare officer." 'Apology is not enough' Ms Stewart doesn't feel like the apology she received in a letter from the police standards department last year is enough. She said: "How is this an adequate or appropriate apology after three to four years fighting and the endless failings. Really, how many times do we have to ask them to treat us like humans and take accountability for the actions of officers? "I am losing the ability to reason with such stupidity and ignorance from GMP. The police not taking accountability feels like a constant attack. No growth can occur until they accept what happened."
Telegraph
15-05-2025
- Telegraph
Met officer faked identity to hide secret family, BBC presenter claimed
A TV presenter has claimed a police officer used a false identity to begin a relationship with her and hide the fact he secretly had another family. Jackie Adedeji, 31, also alleges that after she made a complaint against the man the detective assigned to investigate made inappropriate comments towards her. Adedeji, who presents episodes of investigative TV show Untold and appeared on BBC3, told Channel 4 News that she raised a historical allegation of sexual misconduct in 2023. She made the complaint against a then serving Metropolitan Police officer who was more than 15 years her senior, whom she met while he was on duty in east London. Adedeji alleges the officer initiated a sexual relationship, including during work hours, and used a false identity throughout their years-long relationship. She claimed he used the alias to hide from her that he already had a family. The officer, who worked for City of London Police after leaving the Met, was arrested in February 2024 on suspicion of misconduct in public office, Channel 4 News reports. Adedeji claims that when a detective was assigned to investigate her complaint, he made inappropriate comments to her throughout the process, including commenting on her appearance and joking about how the case brought them together. Ms Adedeji said: 'These experiences have left me completely disillusioned. 'How can women feel safe coming forward when they're retraumatised by the very system that's meant to protect them?' She said City of London Police told her last year her case had been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) but was later told by the CPS that they had not received the file. Claire Waxman, the Victims Commissioner for London, has since written to Pete O'Doherty, City of London Police Commissioner, to raise concerns about the investigation. Ms Waxman wrote: 'It's really important that those actually looking into the behaviour have not been accused themselves and have not been subject to allegations.' Diana Johnson, the policing minister, said: 'I can't comment on the individual case but it concerns me greatly that we have this culture in policing.' 'Held to account' A Met spokesman said: 'While the vast majority of our officers work every day with professionalism and integrity to keep London safe, it is right they are asked to uphold the highest of standards and are held to account when they fail to do so. 'The Government's new vetting regulations close a gap in the law and allow us to ensure only officers who maintain a suitable standard of clearance throughout their career can police the streets of London.' A City of London Police spokesman said: 'Last year, a criminal investigation began following the arrest of an officer for misconduct in a public office. 'A separate complaint against the same officer was also investigated under police conduct regulations, resulting in him being found guilty of gross misconduct. He is no longer a serving officer. 'We cannot disclose details of the criminal investigation that may prejudice the case but accept the victim's complaints and fully recognise the importance of trust and confidence in how our investigations are carried out. 'We referred all of the victims' concerns to the Independent Office for Police Conduct for consideration, and after receiving their advice it should continue to be investigated locally, we have listened to the concerns raised and passed the complaint to a separate force [British Transport Police] for independent review.'
The Independent
13-05-2025
- The Independent
On-duty Met Police officer told girl he would ‘pick her up from school to make love'
A former Metropolitan Police officer who told a 16-year-old girl he met while on duty that he would 'pick her up from school and make love to her' has been jailed. Che Homersham, 37, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to abusing his position as a police constable by attempting to instigate a sexual relationship with the girl between December 2018 and January 2019. Homersham, then aged 30, was on duty in full uniform attached to an emergency patrol and response in north London on December 21 2018, the court was told. While responding to a domestic incident involving a female suspect, he took her children's personal details including the telephone number of the 16-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons. The victim's mother was released from police custody on December 22 2018 and on the same day Homersham called the girl from his personal phone, saying he needed to take a witness statement from her and asking where she was. After being told she was at her grandmother's house, Homersham arrived in his personal car at the address, telling the girl he had done so 'to make her feel more comfortable', prosecutor David Miller said. He then drove her to the Harrow Viewpoint, 'a secluded location well-known for people going to have sex', Mr Miller said. The prosecutor added: 'He asked if she wanted to go for a walk in the forest and said lots of people got arrested for having sex.' After the girl said he could be a 'psychopathic serial killer', Homersham replied that he was a ' police officer and would know how to cover it up'. Homersham, of Southgate, north London, asked to kiss the girl and she refused, the court was told. On December 30 2018, he asked if he could meet the girl again and they met in a McDonald's car park. Homersham discussed his sexual preferences with the girl, the court was told. Mr Miller said: 'He made several attempts to kiss her but she backed off until the third or fourth attempt when she just let it happen. 'He also touched her thigh and waist over her clothes.' Homersham subsequently sent the girl a text in which he said he was going to 'pick her up from school and make love to her', the court was told. The text made the girl 'uncomfortable' and her mother told her to stop all contact with Homersham, Mr Miller said. Following this, Homersham 'infrequently' messaged the girl and also helped her arrange driving lessons. Judge Christopher Hehir said Homersham's behaviour was 'highly inappropriate'. Delivering his sentencing remarks, the judge told Homersham: 'You came into contact with her when she was vulnerable. 'In those circumstances when it is a domestic incident, your job is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of any child you encounter, not to target one of them for sexual activity. 'You obtained the girl's telephone number under the pretext of needing a witness statement from her. 'There was in fact no need for a witness statement at all and you had something completely else in mind.' The judge said Homersham had collected the girl and taken her to a 'secluded location, where what is often referred to as dogging takes place'. He added: 'Even if you had not been a police officer, one might wonder why a 30 or 31 year-old man was making sexual advances to a 16-year-old. 'This was highly inappropriate, entirely wrong and unlawful.' The judge said delays to the case made for a 'substantial degree of mitigation', adding it had resulted in a 'substantially lower sentence than I had in mind'. He told Homersham: 'As a former police officer, the experience of prison will not be a pleasant one.' In a statement read out to the court, the victim said she was now aware she had been 'taken advantage of as a vulnerable teenager' having shown interest in joining the police and that she 'felt sick about what had happened'. She added that she 'did not trust men or the police' and did not report anything at the time as 'she was taken advantage of'. Homersham's counsel Emma Kutner said in mitigation: 'This is a man who is ashamed and is remorseful of his behaviour.' Ms Kutner added Homersham had seen 'some horrific crime scenes that had taken a toll upon him' and was at the time of the offences receiving counselling while struggling with mental health and being subject to workplace bullying. Homersham was charged after an investigation by the Metropolitan Police's anti-corruption unit which started in June 2023 and was carried out under the direction of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). IOPC director Amanda Rowe said: 'Police officers hold a position of trust in the community and to abuse this position for a sexual purpose is a form of serious corruption. 'Such unacceptable conduct can cause significant damage to the public's trust and confidence in the police, and is particularly serious where the victim is a vulnerable person. 'We know this incident has had a significant impact on the young victim and damaged her trust in police officers. 'Homersham met her after responding to a domestic incident. The child was hoping to join the police and she trusted the officer, who had promised to help her with her career. 'However, instead of helping her, he took advantage of his position as a police officer to pursue a sexual relationship. As a result of his actions he now has a criminal conviction.' Homersham resigned from the Met in February 2024, which he had joined at the end of July 2017, having previously been a special constable since October 2015. The IOPC said it would liaise with the Metropolitan Police to progress misconduct proceedings.
