POLICE BRUTALITY IN LIBERAL AUSTRALIA

College student high on LSD killed by overuse of ‘non-lethal’ weapons

And to think that the Aussies, who relish reading about ‘police brutality’ in America, have their own version of this ‘sport.’

COURT SHOWN GRAPHIC FOOTAGE OF BRAZILIAN STUDENT ‘TASERED TO DEATH’ BY AUSTRALIAN POLICE AFTER STEALING BISCUITS FROM CONVENIENCE STORE
21-year-old Laudisio Curti hit ‘multiple’ times and subjected to ‘drive stuns’ when the Taser was used directly on his body

By Richard Shears

Mail Online
October 9, 2012

Disturbing images showed the last moments in the life of a Brazilian student as he was held down by Australian police and hit with ‘multiple’ Taser shots.

The graphic video was released today by the family of 21-year-old Laudisio Curti, who was studying in Sydney at the time of the incident, when the inquest into his death resumed.

A witness who watched as the shirtless student lay on the ground told a coroner’s court in Sydney today that he heard multiple ‘zapping sounds’ and saw one female police officer kick Mr Curti after he had been tackled to the ground.

‘There was a lot of screaming and I did hear him saying help,’ the witness, Tommy Wang, told the inquest.

Releasing the police video for public viewing, Mr Curti’s family said that they believed it was very important that his final moments were seen ‘how he was treated by the police after being Tasered, handcuffed and sprayed with capsicum.

‘Only through honesty and transparency will we get to the truth of what happened, why and who is responsible.

The grainy video shows Mr Curti lying on his back at first with hands around his throat.

A male police officer can be heard shouting: 'Stop resisting or you will be Tasered again.'

Then Mr Curti is forced onto his stomach and shocks from a Taser gun can be seen striking his back.

The inquest has already heard that police chased Mr Curti through the streets of Sydney early one morning.

When they caught him they tried to hit him with a Taser 14 times and he was subjected to what are known as multiple ‘drive stuns’ – when the Taser gun is used directly against a victim’s body.

‘When I first saw him he was topless and had nothing in his hand. He wasn’t attacking the police back. He was just trying to run away,’ said Mr Wang.

Earlier that night Mr Curti had stolen two packets of biscuits from a store, when he told the shop attendant that he was a ‘messenger from God’.

It has transpired that Mr Curti had shared a single tablet of LSD with two friends and was in a psychotic state.

Wendy Price, another witness, said she heard Mr Curti yelling like a wild animal as he tried to escape from police when they confronted him in the street.

‘As police were struggling to restrain him, I saw a flash which he seemed to react violently to,’ she said.

‘He writhed and twisted and managed to break free.’

It was then that he was chased through the streets before being caught and hit numerous times with a Taser gun.

Acting Sergeant Craig Partridge, who was in the police command centre that night, came under fierce questioning at the inquest from barrister Peter Hamill, representing Mr Curti’s family.

‘You know what poor Roberto did, don’t you?’ asked Mr Hamill.

‘He acted a bit strange and a bit crazy and he took some biscuits – that’s a qualitative difference between someone who goes into a bank with a sub-machine gun.’

Sgt Partridge agreed there would be a difference, but said the police officers at the scene acted how they thought was appropriate at the time.

The inquest is continuing.