Teenage boy who attacked policeman in e-ridable event at Optus Stadium argues ‘entitled to resist arrest’

A WA policeman who was attacked by youths while trying to confiscate an e-rideable says he was attempting to arrest a boy he feared was about to headbutt him after puckering up for a “kiss.” Senior Constable Mark Cooper testified at the Perth Children’s Court trial of the 16-year-old boy prosecutor James Nicholls described as the main assailant on Monday. The policeman of 34 years told the court that had he followed a group taking part in a Bike Life ride-out event on December 28 to Optus Stadium after herding them off the Causeway “to prevent them from being hit by a car.” “They were riding all over the carriageway, they were doing wheelies, blocking traffic,” he said. Video played in court showed Sen. Const. Cooper confront a handful of boys in an alcove at the base of the stadium over an electric-motorbike, which he told them had been used illegally on main roads. The youths erupted in anger, shouting and swearing, agitated by the prospect of it being seized, and the officer was cornered as more converged. “It was starting to get tense,” the policeman told the court. As the accused leaned into the officer’s face, puckering his lips, he asked: “Do you want a kiss?” Sen. Const. Cooper said the violence then unfolded as he moved to arrest the boy, believing he was about to be headbutted — as he had been while working previously. He said he pushed out an open hand “rapidly” to create a distance between them and also grab the teen’s shirt collar. “I felt that he was a danger to me,” the officer said. “He’s responded with immediate physical aggression. “I’ve copped numerous punches, blows to the nose.” Mr Nicholls said another teen struck out at the officer, making contact at least once, while a third boy landed a single kick. As the officer fell over a bicycle that was on the ground, he feared the violence would escalate even further, with more boys moving in and kicking him, Sen. Const. Cooper said. But the youths dispersed. Blood streamed into his eyes as he radioed colleagues and he was treated in hospital to an eyebrow gash requiring two stitches while a cut between his eyebrows was glued together. But in a dramatic twist at the end of the hearing, defence counsel Melissa Sanders applied to Magistrate Stephen Vose to have the case thrown out, arguing her client had no case to answer. She put to Sen. Const. Cooper that he had used excessive — and unlawful — force against the teen, punching him, putting him in a headlock and holding onto him after taking offence to his “cheeky” puckering. He’d lied about using an open palm because it could lead to a serious misconduct claim, she further argued. Sen. Const. Cooper denied he lashed out in anger, insisting he used reasonable force to effect an arrest. Ms Sanders also took aim at the policeman’s claim the teen had walked back towards him twice, appearing “fully enraged” and ready for another crack. She had footage replayed as she argued her client was merely trying to pick up his phone, which he’d dropped on the ground. The prosecutor, however, said these key facts were “very much in dispute” and not clear from the footage. Ms Sanders labelled the arrest unlawful, saying the teen was “entitled to resist it.” Mr Vose will hand down his decision on Tuesday.