The New South Wales police watchdog has found three police officers engaged in serious misconduct after they refused an Indigenous man his right to silence in custody and fed him false information during an interview.
It comes after the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (Lecc) found last year the force was interviewing young people in custody in a way that compromised their right to silence, and declared it a “systemic problem”.
Lecc’s report, released on Friday and known as Operation Pamir, detailed how in this particular incident officers had arrested a 29-year-old Aboriginal man after a series of alleged car thefts across Sydney in 2020.
While in custody, the police conducted two interviews with the man despite being informed by his legal representative he did not wish to be interviewed. During the interviews, the commission found the man made admissions that turned out to be false.
The case was referred to the police watchdog for investigation after the man faced court on 11 charges laid against him following the interviews. The judge found that during the pre-trial hearing the first interview was inadmissible because it was obtained “improperly and illegally”.
The acting deputy director for public prosecutions then wrote to Lecc in 2022, outlining reasonable grounds to suspect two officers had engaged in conduct that “constituted serious maladministration”.
Lecc found one officer engaged in serious misconduct after he put false information to the man during his interview in custody and also wrote inaccurate information in the man’s police statement.
A second officer was found to have engaged in serious misconduct for conducting the interview despite being informed by the man’s legal representative he did not wish to be interviewed. The report said the man requested the interview stop several times so he could speak to his solicitor, but was ignored.
A third officer, the custody manager at the station, was found to have engaged in serious misconduct after he fell “far short of the proper exercise of his important duties” by ignoring the man’s right to silence.
After the interview, the man faced 22 charges – including aggravated break in and stealing a car. Eleven of those charges proceeded to the district court, and were later withdrawn after the judge presiding over the case found the two police interviews were inadmissible.
“The findings made in this report emphasise the importance of investigating police officers respecting the exercise of a suspect’s right to silence and the custody manager in a police station fulfilling their important duties concerning a person in custody,” said Peter Johnson SC, Lecc’s chief commissioner.
Sue Higginson, the NSW Greens justice spokesperson, called for the man to be compensated and for the officers’ employment to be terminated.
“The right to silence is one of the most fundamental rights when it comes to freedom from oppressive state prosecution,” Higginson said.
“Arresting officers, custody managers and bail officers all have a significant responsibility for maintaining a person’s welfare and for protecting the legal rights of the community.”
Lecc wrote in the report that the case bore similarities to another case investigated by the watchdog under Operation Mantus, which found a “systemic problem” in police compromising young people’s right to silence.
The incident involved a 14-year-old Indigenous boy who was chased and tackled by police before being taken into custody. He was then interviewed by police despite him choosing his right to silence.
The report recommended the NSW police commissioner take disciplinary action against three involved officers.
It also recommended all investigating officers and custody managers receive training on the right to silence, and the “implications and consequences” when that right is ignored.
