Whoops

Officers on perjury charges
Paula Doneman
November 17, 2006 11:00pm
Article from: The Courier Mail www.thecouriermail.news.com.au

THREE Logan police officers will front court on perjury charges after they allegedly gave false -*test*-('")imony during a court case and secret CMC hearings in a bid to cover up an assault on a woman in a watchhouse cell.

The Crime and Misconduct Commission has been investigating the actions of three officers, who have been removed from operational duties, against a woman they had arrested for shoplifting and a traffic offence in April 2004.
A CMC spokeswoman said a female constable was charged on Wednesday with perjury for allegedly falsely -*test*-('")ifying at the woman's subsequent court case in December 2004 that she had not seen "a physical altercation between a fellow officer and a female defendant" in a holding cell at the Logan watchhouse.

The constable was charged with another count of perjury for allegedly repeating the same false -*test*-('")imony during a CMC hearing last year.

The second officer, a male senior constable, is charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice for stopping a video recording the incident in the holding cell and perjury for allegedly lying to a commission hearing that he did not stop the video tape. The third officer, a male constable, has been charged with assaulting the woman and assault causing bodily harm.

He also faces three counts of perjury for falsely -*test*-('")ifying at the woman's court case that there was no video recording of her being detained in the holding cell, that she had kicked him in the shin and that he had not assaulted her.

He faces a fourth perjury charge for allegedly lying to a CMC hearing that the woman had kicked him in the shin.

The CMC also charged him with attempting to pervert the course of justice by emailing a fourth police officer, who was not in the cell at the time, asking the officer to provide a false -*test*-('")imony at the woman's court case.

All three will appear in Beenleigh Magistrate's Court on December 12.