Australian police face criminal charges as video shows officers Tasering unarmed man 13 times - inside police station

By Mail Foreign Service
Updated: 07:32 EST, 6 October 2010

Police in Sydney could face criminal charges after a shocking video was released that shows officers zapping an unarmed man 13 times with a Taser in a detention centre.

The video of an incident from 2008 was released to the public on Monday as part of a Western Australia Crime Commission report into the escalating use of Tasers.

In the CCTV footage the unarmed man, who had refused to undergo a strip search in a Perth detention facility, is heard screaming in apparent agony after being zapped with a stun gun eight times while surrounded by nine police officers.

See the video below ...

He was stunned another five times off-camera and the incident has been widely condemned for its brutality.

The Crime Commission's report said the unidentified victim appeared to be suffering from a mental illness or was under the influence of drugs. It did not say why the man was in police custody.

After an internal police inquiry, two senior constables were fined $1,200 Australian dollars and AU$750 for using excessive force but prominent politicians and civil liberties groups are calling for further punishment. 

Most significantly, Western Australia's attorney-general, Christian Porter, has raised the possibility of criminal charges being brought against the officers involved. 

Western Australia state police said the 2008 case was not typical of Taser use but state Premier Colin Barnett has demanded a review of Taser guidelines in the wake of the Crime Commission's report.

Barnett believes the nine officers could have restrained the man in a less extreme way.

'It was excessive use of a Taser that could not be justified,' he said.

'I think anyone seeing that footage would find it totally unacceptable.'

Western Australia Acting Police Commissioner Chris Dawson agreed the actions were uncalled for.

'It was wrong, it's unacceptable, it was alarming when I looked at it and it'll be alarming when the public view it,' Dawson said.

But the video has led to a wider controversy over the increasing use of Tasers in Australia.

The day after the video was released, a man died in Sydney when police stunned him in the chest with a Taser following an armed stand-off.

Police said the man was armed with two knives and attempting to break into a Sydney house when officers arrived.

The man lost consciousness shortly after being stunned and died Tuesday at a hospital. A coroner will determine the cause of death.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione defended the officers' actions.

'In a split second, the officers made a decision, which I believe, may have saved their lives,' he said.

'Had (the officer) not been successful, I certainly believe the consequences could have been tragic for one or both of the officers involved.'

The two incidents have sparked a review into the use of the supposedly non-lethal weapons in Australia in the wake of the Crime Commission report.

It stated Tasers are increasingly being used to force alleged offenders to comply with orders and recommends they only be used when there is an imminent threat of serious injury.

The review echoes the controversy in Britain over Raoul Moat's death in July when officers fired an X12 Taser shotgun at the fugitive - a weapon which had not been sanctioned for use by Northumbria Police.