Police to stand trial over alleged assault
Four past and present NSW policemen will stand trial accused of lying to the police watchdog about their treatment of a man in custody.
Six officers from the north coast were charged with numerous offences including perjury, fabricating evidence and common assault, after allegedly covering up an incident involving 24-year-old Corey Barker in the Ballina police cells in January 2011.
Mr Barker had been arrested after a late-night confrontation between his friends and police.
He was accused of a string of offences including assaulting a senior constable, but a magistrate dismissed that charge after viewing CCTV footage that appeared to show the young man being dragged across the floor of the cells while handcuffed.
A Police Integrity Commission (PIC) inquiry found the officers subjected Mr Barker to "brutal and violent" treatment in the cells.
Four of the men - Lee Walmsley, Ryan Eckersley, Mark Woolven and Robert McCubben - waived their right to committal hearings in the Downing Centre District Court on Thursday.
They will stand trial next year.
