A Lawson man tasered by police has successfully sued officers for unlawful use of a taser after footage of the incident was played in court.
Perry Bettler was holding his five-month-old baby son Lachlan when he was wrestled to the ground by police officers causing him to drop his baby into his wife’s arms just moments before they fired a taser at him.
The incident occurred outside his Somers Street home three years ago after a car smashed into two of his cars.
The incident was seen by at least half a dozen other witnesses, many giving evidence in Sydney District court last week before the state settled the case, Mr Bettler said.
“It’s a great day for me to have a victory for once,” he said.
Mr Bettler had called police to his home for help but officers claimed he threatened them, something that was not established in court.
The lawyer for Perry Bettler, Greg Walsh, said Mr Bettler wasn’t resisting officers, he had his hands pinned by his sides, and that there was no need to use a taser at all.
Evidence in the court heard that Mr Bettler was tasered three times by an officer, not once as police initially claimed, Mr Walsh said. And Mr Walsh said Mr Bettler could have lost his home fighting the case.
“It was to Perry’s credit that he took the police on [in court] which is not an easy thing, he could have lost his home. He really didn’t do anything wrong.”
Dramatic footage taken from the police weapon shown in the court showed a distraught Mr Bettler face-down on the ground after being tasered.
“The highway patrol officer, he’s just lunged in, gave the baby a glancing blow out of my arm, but luckily my wife was able to catch him,” Mr Bettler said.
Mr Bettler said no warning was given before the taser was used, which he understood was a requirement.
“I was prepared to walk away with the police. They never gave me that chance,” he told the Gazette.
The department settled out of court and the resolution is confidential but Mr Bettler said he was “satisfied” with the outcome.
Mr Walsh said he hoped lessons would be learnt from the experience.
“There was never a need for a taser. We need to look at tasers, they can be potentially lethal, police need to be trained and only use them in circumstances dictated by the guidelines.”
Superintendent Darryl Jobson from Blue Mountains Police said the outcome was “being reviewed”.