A police officer found to have failed in properly investigating the watchhouse bashing of a female tourist has lost a legal bid to block Queensland's corruption watchdog from reviewing his conduct.
The Queensland Court of Appeal on Tuesday rejected Senior Sergeant Anthony Lee's challenge to an earlier decision not to grant a declaration barring the Crime and Corruption Commission from further investigating him.
It comes after he was tasked with investigating allegations another officer had assaulted a young woman while arresting her at the Whitsunday watchhouse in January 2008.
He later filed a report claiming he'd watched CCTV footage of the incident and recommended the officer in question, then-Senior Constable Benjamin Price, be exonerated.
But further scrutiny from the Ethical Standards Command found the CCTV footage aligned with the woman's claim, leading Sen Sgt Lee to admit he hadn't watched it at all.
Price later pleaded guilty to charges, including those stemming from the watchhouse assault, and was sentenced to 27 months behind bars.
Following this, the matter caught the attention of the Crime and Corruption Commission, which recommended Sen Sgt Lee face a disciplinary hearing for his apparent "inertia" and absurd admission he hadn't taken the time to look at the CCTV footage.
But the Queensland Police Service instead opted to pursue "managerial action" against Sen Sgt Lee.
Dissatisfied, the CCC exercised its apparent power to assume control of an investigation into an officer's conduct where alleged or suspected corruption exists.
Sen Sgt Lee tried to stop this happening by seeking a court declaration the commission didn't have the capacity to get involved, but failed.
In his judgment delivered on Tuesday, Justice Philip McMurdo also rejected the suggestion the CCC couldn't assume control because the matter was already complete.
"It could not be found that the investigation had been completed in the sense that every relevant fact or circumstance had been identified and considered," he wrote.
