This ain’t the way it normally works here…..
Payout to woman for gun terror upheld
Tim Dick Legal Affairs Reporter
December 13, 2006
MEMO to NSW police: do not pull guns on elderly mothers in their garages in the middle of the night without having a very good reason. Chasing their speeding sons does not count.
It happened to Dorothy Ibbett, 75, who ended up on the wrong end of a police pistol in the early hours of January 23, 2001.
Yesterday five High Court judges unanimously upheld an award of $100,000 compensation for the assault and trespass inflicted by police.
Senior Constable Darren Pickavance and his partner, Senior Constable Peter Harman, were on the lookout for her son, Warren, who had spent several years in jail for armed robbery and admitted using drugs.
Just before 2am Mr Ibbett sped past them. They pursued him and did not stop when he drove his van into his mother's garage.
He closed the door but Constable Pickavance managed to roll under before it shut.
The commotion woke Mrs Ibbett, who discovered Constable Pickavance pointing his pistol at her. He was agitated, not in uniform, and yelled at her: "Open the bloody door and let my mate in."
She had never seen a gun before, and a District Court judge, Colin Phegan, accepted it had petrified her.
When the door was opened her son was handcuffed, his van searched and he was strip-searched. No drugs were found and other charges laid against him were later dropped.
Mrs Ibbett sued the State Government and was awarded $75,000 damages by Judge Phegan, $30,000 of which was for exemplary damages, intended to punish the wrongdoer.
Judge Phegan found the police action was unjustified and the gun was pointed at Mrs Ibbett "to cause fear and apprehension".
The Government appealed but the Court of Appeal raised the damages to $100,000. The Chief Justice, Jim Spigelman, found the exemplary damages awarded for assault were "manifestly inadequate". "There were no circumstances of any character which could conceivably have justified the constable turning his gun on Mrs Ibbett and demanding she act in a particular manner," he said.
"Such conduct deserves condemnation by the court."
The "re-education" of Senior Constable Pickavance had amounted to a five-minute chat with a sergeant, and failed to impress Justice Spigelman. It was "perfunctory in the extreme", he said.Mrs Ibbett said yesterday: "I hope the NSW Government takes steps to ensure it doesn't happen to anyone else."
Payout to woman for gun terror upheld - National - smh.com.au