Policeman fined for assaulting student

A constable who was convicted of assaulting a student in the back of a police car has today been fined $2750.

Judge Fred McElrea in the Auckland District Court also ordered Gregory Richard Hall to pay $130 court costs.

Hall was found guilty in May of the November 2000 assault on Hayden Graham Seath in the rear of a police car after Mr Seath was arrested following an incident in the Bull and Gate carpark in Albany.

The case took so long to come to court because initially Mr Seath and another man who intervened were charged with assault, but were acquitted.

The police then decided to charge Hall and another officer over the incident.

Prosecutor Chris Morris said that Mr Seath, his hands handcuffed behind his back was punched several times in the head while in a defenceless position in the rear of a confined police vehicle.

"The victim and the community were entitled to expect a higher standard of conduct from him," Mr Morris said in his written submissions.

Defence counsel Richard Earwaker emphasised Hall's exemplary record and produced many excellent testimonials on his behalf.

He asked the judge to take into account that Hall was seriously hurt in the incident and suffered concussion.

Mr Earwaker said that Hall now had an uncertain future.

Judge McElrea said that reparation was not appropriate.

He accepted that the assault was completely out of character for an officer with a fine record in the police.

His behaviour may have been affected by his concussion that night.

The judge said that he did not assume that Hall would necessarily lose his job but that was a matter for the police disciplinary tribunal.

Outside the court Mr Earwaker said: "We still have a process to go through. It is very stressful for him but it is not over yet. It would be inappropriate to comment until these matters have been dealt with."