A Sydney man who sued after he was allegedly thrown to the ground head-first during a traffic stop, causing spinal injuries, has settled his case against police shortly before footage of the incident was due to be played in the NSW Supreme Court.
Brett Armstrong, 44, sued the State of NSW alleging he was left with significant injuries including incomplete quadriplegia, cervical myelopathy, lower limb spasticity, a cervical spine injury and seven fractured ribs after the incident in Sydney’s south-west in March 2016.
He had been taking four puppies home from the vet, where they had received their vaccinations, when his friend’s car was pulled over at Horningsea Park in Liverpool by officers from the elite squad Strike Force Raptor because a bikie funeral was being held nearby.
Mr Armstrong, who is Indigenous, started filming the incident. He complied with a police direction to get out of the car and put his hands on his head, and told the court he was holding his phone near his head when he felt a violent jolt and was lifted and slammed into the ground.
His barrister Philip Beale told the court this week Mr Armstrong was punched with force, breaking seven of his ribs, before the officer – a jiujitsu expert – picked him up and threw him to the ground head-first in some kind of martial arts manoeuvre.
The court was told footage from a police dash cam showed Mr Armstrong’s leg jerking as he lay on the ground, as though he had received an electric shock.
In its defence, the State of NSW argued the car was initially pulled over because checks showed it was associated with the Rebels motorcycle gang. It was argued the officer used a “leg sweep” on Mr Armstrong because he saw a metallic object in his hand and believed it was a weapon, and this use of force was justified.
Mr Armstrong’s mobile phone footage had been cued up to be played to the court on Monday when Justice David Davies adjourned. The court did not sit for the next two days because Mr Armstrong was awaiting a COVID-19 test result.
In the vision, which was briefly played to check it was working, a police officer could be seen at the car window saying he had received “Rebels intel” about the car and “it’s a bit odd, you guys hanging around near the funeral”.
Mr Armstrong was then told, “put your phone down for me”.
On Thursday, Mr Armstrong’s barrister Elpi Chrysostomou told the court the case had been resolved on terms agreed between the parties and would be discontinued. It is understood Mr Armstrong will receive a significant payment.
Medical experts including a radiologist and neurologists had been due to give evidence. The key medical issue was to determine which of Mr Armstrong’s injuries were caused by the interaction in 2016, and which were caused by previous events in his life including a car crash.
The police officer who allegedly threw Mr Armstrong to the ground had also been due to give evidence.
The court heard the officer is no longer employed by NSW Police, and has launched his own case against his former employer for negligence after he was exposed to traumatic incidents.
Justice Davies noted a notice of discontinuance had been filed and made no order for costs.
“I congratulate the parties,” Justice Davies said. “[This] was obviously a very difficult matter to resolve.”
