Two cops admit Aboriginal man didn't punch - Sydney Morning Herald

AAP

Two more officers involved in the prosecution of a young Aboriginal man accused of assaulting police have now conceded he never threw a punch.

Corey Barker, 24, was charged in January 2011 after attempting to help two friends who were in a violent street confrontation with police in Ballina, on the NSW north coast.

While in custody, he was further charged with punching Sen Const David Hill in the face while being walked from a holding cage to a cell at the back of the police station.

Constable Lee Walmsley told a Police Integrity Commission (PIC) hearing in Sydney on Wednesday his original evidence had been wrong.

"I concede I made errors," he said about a written statement he made after the event.

CCTV footage, at first thought to be damaged, confirmed Mr Barker did not throw a punch but showed five officers slamming him into a wall and wrestling him to the ground before kicking him in the head and kneeing him in his side.

"Having seen the CCTV footage, you now believe you were wrong?" counsel assisting the inquiry, Stephen Rushton SC, asked.

"Yes," Const Walmsley replied.

The officer's written statement also stated that Mr Barker broke free of his grip just before he punched Snr Const Hill, threw more than one punch and was flailing his arms trying to break free of the other officers.

"You knew at the time that didn't happen," Mr Rushton said.

"No, I didn't," Const Walmsley said.

He admitted to using Sen Const Hill's statement to prepare his own, as other officers have revealed they did.

Const Walmsley had told Ballina Local Court in December 2011 he prepared his statement from his own memory.

"That was untrue," Mr Rushton said.

"As I know now," the officer replied.

"I suggest you knew it at the time," Mr Rushton said.

"No, I didn't."

Senior Constable Ryan Eckersley also conceded on Wednesday that his previous evidence that Mr Barker had punched Snr Const Hill was incorrect.

"That's what I thought at the time," he told the PIC.

The CCTV footage shows Sen Const Eckersley "lashing forward" twice with his foot after Mr Barker had been forced to the ground, the inquiry heard.

The hearing continues.