Body cam footage of an arrest in western Sydney has shown a police search that landed a woman with a $320,000 payout for unlawful arrest and false imprisonment.
The video, obtained by the ABC, recorded the moment Ebonie Madden and friend Dylan Turner were stopped on a Penrith street on December 30, 2019.
Senior Constable Michael Darnton is seen taking a black handbag from Mr Turner and searching through it, before finding a knife.
“Where you living now Ebonie? ‘Cause you are under arrest,” Senior Constable Darnton says.
“You are under arrest for custody of a knife in a public place.”
Mr Turner then replies: “It’s mine, chief.”
But the comment is ignored, and Senior Constable Darnton would later say in court he did not hear Mr Turner’s admission.
Ms Madden is placed in handcuffs and can be heard saying: “I don’t even know how that got in there.”
The footage also captures another police officer, Danielle Munt, approaching the scene of the arrest.
“That’s what happens when you’re mouthy. You get stopped and searched,” she said.
A colleague then tells her: “We’ve got our cameras on, Sarge.”
Senior Constable Munt would later concede in court her comments were “unprofessional”.
Ms Madden had recently been released on parole before the December incident, after which she was charged with offences including custody of a knife in public.
She was also charged with resisting arrest after refusing to remove her necklace during a subsequent strip search.
After spending six months in custody, the charges were thrown out in court.
It was revealed during the court process that the police fact sheet had omitted Ms Madden’s denials of knowing the knife was in the bag, and that it was Mr Turner who was seen carrying the bag.
In 2022, she was awarded $320,000 plus interest after a District Court judge ruled she had been subject to unlawful arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution.
The judge also found Senior Constable Darnton acted with malice in pursuing the charges and was motivated by “personal animus” he held against Ms Madden due to his previous interactions with her in which she was violent.
The police have tried to appeal against that ruling, but it was upheld in February.
NSW Police said it would review the appeal judgment and “consider ways to improve the way we handle such matters”.
An ABC investigation has revealed police conduct about 550 personal and vehicle searches in the state each day, with 90 per cent of them finding nothing.
“My experience is unequivocally … that a very vast number of those searches will have been unlawful,” civil litigator and criminal lawyer Peter O’Brien told the ABC.
“[Australia] has one of the largest per capita police populations in the world… so when there’s a quiet night, police often feel the need to be proactive.
“And what that actually means, in many instances, is that they are overstepping their mark.”