Officer denies beatings

Alleged beatings of some suspects, the humiliation of others and the "shabby" treatment of police files came under scrutiny when a senior South Auckland policeman gave evidence in his own defence yesterday.

Senior Sergeant Anthony Solomona - who faces four charges of assault and one of assault with a weapon - dismissed as "absolutely false" accusations that he beat and abused three suspects, in separate incidents, in February and March last year.

During questioning by his lawyer, John Haigh, QC, Solomona gave the Papakura District Court his version of events surrounding the three charges.

He denied assaulting 17-year-old Angelo Turner by smashing his head against the lights of his police car.

Mr Turner had been one of a group allegedly abusing Solomona after he had accidentally driven into the driver's side of Turner's car.

Solomona told the court he arrested Mr Turner for disorderly behaviour and breaching the peace. He had arrested him in order to shut down a confrontation that could have got out of hand, he said.

"My experience as a police officer has shown that in situations where we have one person who is quite vocal, it is important to act quickly."

Solomona also denied he had beaten up Richard Southon, the second of the three complainants.

Southon was arrested after allegedly cutting off an off-duty policeman while he was backing out of a driveway.

He alleged Solomona punched him in the stomach at the arrest scene, then beat him "10 or 15 times" in the chest while interviewing him at the station.

The third complainant, who has permanent name suppression, claimed Solomona punched him in the chest and hit him in the chest, mouth and chin with a kilikiti bat - a large Polynesian cricket bat. Solomona denied both those allegations.

The youth, who was 16 at the time of the incident, had earlier told the court he was left with no marks after being hit with the bat, so Solomona produced a bat for the court. At about 1.5m long, it resembled a quartered fence post, with a flax-and-rope handle.

"I know that, without a doubt, it would have left some visible injuries and he would have had swelling and bruising," the defendant said.

Evidence was heard earlier in the week of a photograph allegedly taken of the youth, wearing a sign saying "I belong to Senior Sergeant Solomona". Such pictures were considered "a joke" by some officers, Solomona said.

During cross examination by prosecutor Robert Fardell, QC, Solomona admitted that he had treated some police files relating to Mr Turner "quite shabbily".