Policeman found guilty of assaulting student in car

A police constable was yesterday found guilty of assaulting a student in an incident more than four years ago.

A jury at the Auckland District Court convicted Gregory Richard Hall of assaulting Hayden Graham Seath in the back of a police car in November 2000.

Hall and his colleague, Constable Geoffrey James Wharton, were acquitted of assaulting Mr Seath during an arrest in the Bull and Gate carpark in Albany.

His colleague, Constable Christopher Geoffrey James Wharton, was also cleared of three counts of assaulting Mr Seath in a police interview room.

The jury was hung on a fifth assault charge against Wharton relating to the incident in the police car, however, and Judge Fred McElrea ordered a retrial.

Hall is to be sentenced at the end of next month.

In his summing up at the Auckland District Court, the judge warned the jury: "Don't think you have got some public duty of cleaning up the police."

The case took so long to come to court because Mr Seath and Quintin Van Loggerenberg, who intervened in the incident, were acquitted after an assault trial.

Mr Seath, who urinated in the pub carpark, was said to have sworn at the officers, claiming they had not returned his driver's licence after checking his ID.

Hall's lawyer, Richard Earwaker, told the jury that the officers tried to calm Mr Seath, but decided to arrest him for disorderly behaviour when he started yelling and swearing.

Mr Earwaker said Mr Seath was drunk, irrational, unreasonable and unpredictable and was working himself into a frenzy.

"The situation degenerated very quickly and the officers acted entirely properly in arresting this man," Mr Earwaker told the jury.

Hall denied and was cleared of claims he punched Mr Seath in the kidney area several times in the carpark. Both officers said they were acting in self defence.

Hall, whose nose was broken and bloodied in the carpark, said he punched Mr Seath twice in the head to control him and stop him struggling and kicking in the car.

Wharton, who was driving, was said to have hit Mr Seath in the face with an elbow. He admitted using his elbow to force Mr Seath back when he leaned over to the front of the car.

Mr Seath also claimed Wharton later entered a police interview room three times and attacked him. Prosecutor Robert Fardell suggested it was in revenge for his colleague's broken nose and bloodied face.

Wharton's lawyer, Philip Morgan, QC, said that these claims were a series of lies and palpably untrue.

RECENT POLICE CONVICTIONS

* August 18, 2004 - Constable Ivan James Sarich was convicted of assaulting the manager of Fuze Bar in Rotorua and fined $1000. Two companions, also police officers, had similar charges against them dismissed.

* March 29, 2005 - A Wellington constable with name suppression was found guilty of smacking a 17-year-old schoolboy to the floor during an interview. He was ordered to pay the boy $1500 and do 200 hours community work.

* April 7, 2005 - Senior Sergeant Anthony Solomona was convicted of assaulting a 17-year-old outside a service station and ordered to pay $1250 in reparation.