Ballina cop 'vowed to smash phone', PIC hears

The third day of the inquiry into the alleged bashing of an Indigenous man on the New South Wales north coast continued, with Corey Barker being questioned.

Cops get multicultural mental health class

(AAP)





The lawyers representing the policemen involved in the altercation cross-examined Mr Barker for most of the day.

Brett Eurell, the lawyer for Constable Mewings, questioned Corey Barker about his previous drug use and temper.

Footage was shown to display what Mr Barker is capable of when he gets angry.

Today Corey Barker described the events that took place in the video, saying another young man was trying to steal his girlfriend.

This event, a previous conviction for assaulting a police officer and Mr Barker's use of testosterone in 2010 formed the basis for most of the questions.

Corey Barker was asked whether he thought he started the fight between him and the police in the back room.

Mr Eurell claimed when Mr Corey turned his shoulder, he intended to set upon one of the officers, and that caused the sequence of events that followed.

Constable Mewings' lawyer asked Corey Barker "Do you agree that you started this altercation by turning on Senior Constable Hill?". "No. Not at all," Corey replied.

Brett Eurell also said that at the time of the incident Corey Barker was a violent, drunken and abusive man.

The phone that Corey Barker tried to use to film an alleged police assault on a young woman was also raised.

Corey Barker said he thought the police wanted the mobile because they presumed it contained a video of the incident.

While he was in the lock-up, an officer walked over to him with what appears to be a mobile phone in his hand, he said. "The officer said 'Tell me the f****ing code or I'll f****ing smash it'," he added.

Tomorrow the police officers involved are expected to give evidence. .



Share
2 min read

Published

Updated

By Brooke Boney
Source: NITV News

Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world