Complaint against police

Press, 2 November 1982, Page 3

Complaint against police

Miss Leigh Harris (left), and Miss Sara England, who say they intend to lay complaints of police brutality after policemen wearing riot gear cleared their Linwood flat on Saturday night. Miss England, aged 17, said she had a hairline fracture of the skull and intensive bruising inflicted by a long baton. Miss Harris is holding splintered wood from a locked bedroom door, which, she said, had been kicked in by the police. The two young women said that more than 10 partygoers had been injured when a police squad, equipped with helmets and visors, riot shields, and long batons, went through the old house

on the corner of Armagh Street and Hanmer Street. Superintendent J. F. Waugh said yesterday that the police had been asked to clear the house by an occupant after a party got out of hand. The police had received a number of other calls about fighting and bottle-throwing in the street outside. “When our first car arrived to investigate the policemen were driven off by a shower of bottles. There is no way we are going to stick qur heads into a situation lite that without protection,” said Mr Waugh. The police had had to deal with “100-odd people” in w'hat bad developed into a tense and dangerous situa-

tion. Some neighbours had been “quite frightened.” Mr Waugh said that the police would not consider sending men in riot gear to answer a call to a party “unless we have prior knowledge and reason to believe that they will be in a dangerous situation.” “We handle hundreds and hundreds of calls to rowdy parties, but we hardly ever get this sort of trouble. Most of the calls are dealt with by one or two constables,” said Mr Waugh. Miss England said that the police had been asked to clear the house by her female flatmate, who had been hit in the eye by flying glass from a broken bottle. There had been no trouble

inside the house when the police came in through two doors simultaneously. Miss England said she had been pushed to the floor by a riot shield and hit on the head.

“We are not objecting to their coming into the house — our flatmate had asked them to clear some people out, but they had no right to burst in and indiscriminately hit people,” said Miss England. Miss Harris said that some persons had been bitten by a police dog in the melee outside.

Superintendent Waugh said that if a complaint was made, it would be thoroughly investigated in the usual way.