A disturbing video shows a police officer repeatedly punching and kicking an Aboriginal man who allegedly spat his mouth on him before prosecuting him for resisting arrest and assaulting police.
Proughton McRae, 50, had just been released from Sydney’s Kings Cross police station when he allegedly verbally abused three officers in the car park.
Footage obtained by Daily Mail Australia shows the Indigenous man then being punched in the chin by Senior Constable Dean Leo, forced to the ground, kicked and punched repeatedly in the face.
Following his arrest, NSW Police claimed in court that it was Mr McRae who had started the physical confrontation by first pressuring Senior Constable Leo.
However, that account differs dramatically from what the video of the incident shows.
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A disturbing video may be revealed of an officer repeatedly punching and kicking an Aboriginal man who was subsequently charged with assaulting police and resisting arrest. The video shows Senior Constable Dean Leo punching 50-year-old Proughton McRae on the chin (above)
In the video, Mr. McRae is dragged to the ground and appears to put Senior Constable Leo in the boot (above), but no statement of facts filed in court makes any mention of the police officer kicking him
A Statement of Alleged Facts, written by the police and submitted to the court, claimed that 50-year-old and Senior Constable Leo ‘became involved in a shoving and shoving’.
The statement of alleged facts read: ‘The suspect shoved Senior Constable Dean Leo to the chest’.
However, the video shows that it was the 39-year-old police officer who first made physical contact with the man.
CCTV video shows Senior Constable Leo placing his gloved left hand on the man’s neck before Mr McRae pushes back. The police officer then slaps Mr. McRae on the chin.
The man is pulled to the ground and Senior Constable Leo appears to kick him in the body.
Senior Constable Leo and two other officers spend three minutes restraining the man.
The police statement of alleged offenses admitted that Senior Constable Leo repeatedly punched him in the face and hit him in the ribs with his extendable baton
The Indigenous man was subsequently charged with three counts of assault on police, three counts of resisting arrest and one count of assault on police causing actual bodily harm and behaving in an offensive manner.
After the video was produced in court, all eight charges against Mr. McRae were dropped and dismissed. His arrest took place on October 16, 2019.
A complaint was made about the conduct of Senior Constable Dean Leo but was found to be unfounded following an internal inquiry and no action was taken against him.
The officer, who has since left the police force, would not discuss the arrest when approached on Friday as he walked barefoot out of a shopping mall.
“What’s it got to do with you?” he said when asked about the video. ‘Go away.’
According to an account of the facts, Senior Constable Dean Leo was forced to use ‘discretionary’ and ‘distraction’ punches to Mr McRae’s head and ‘defensive’ batons to his ribs. He has since left the police force and is photographed outside a supermarket on Friday
That day, the native man returned to Kings Cross station shortly after being released from custody on an undisclosed case.
The police statement of alleged facts described Mr McRae as having an extensive history of assaulting officers, resisting arrest and spitting at police.
“The Defendant has numerous warnings for this behavior as the Defendant has an extreme hatred and distaste for the police due to an extensive history of police interaction,” the court document said.
According to police, Mr McRae immediately became aggressive at the police station, calling officers “white dog c**ts” and accusing them of not returning his property.
About three minutes after McRae visited the station, the video shows Senior Constable Leo and his two colleagues following him down the stairs and into the street.
Police alleged that Mr McRae walked towards the three officers in a ‘menacing manner’ and shouted ‘You will have to fight me’.
About three minutes after McRae enters the station, the video shows Senior Constable Leo (far left) and two other officers following him back down the stairs. Once outside the station, Mr McRae reportedly started waving his arms and ‘getting more aggressive and offensive’
The three officers see them mistreating the native man
According to the police statement of alleged facts, after the “pushing and shoving,” Senior Officer Leo became afraid of being attacked by Mr. McRae.
“The suspect appeared to be collecting saliva in his mouth,” the statement said. “In an effort to prevent the spitting, Senior Constable Dean Leo performed a discretionary defense tactic and punched the suspect in the chin.”
The video shows Mr McRae being dragged to the ground and Senior Constable Leo appearing to put the boot in, but there is no mention in the facts of the police officer kicking him.
According to the facts, Mr McRae Senior Constable grabbed Leo by the throat and the officer slapped him again in the face ‘to prevent neck examination or asphyxiation’.
Police alleged that Mr McRae tried to hit Senior Constable Leo, scratched his neck and chest and threatened to kill police.
“Senior Constable Dean Leo feared for his safety and escalated the use of force by using clenched fists as a distraction tactic,” the statement of facts read.
“Those punches hit the defendant’s face countless times.”
According to the facts, Mr McRae Senior Constable grabbed Leo by the throat and the officer punched him in the face ‘to prevent neck examination or asphyxiation’
The video shows Mr McRae being lifted and held in a kneeling position with Senior Constable Leo’s knee in his back and his head pushed forward before being pulled to his feet
Police alleged that Mr McRae had bitten Senior Constable Leo on the hand when he tried to turn his head away to prevent him from spitting.
“Police used numerous punches and knee strikes to control the suspect and stop the violence,” the police document said.
Senior Constable Leo then used his extendable baton to hit Mr McRae in the ribs, holding the officer’s shirt.
“This tactic appeared to have some effect once the grip of the defendant was released,” the statement of facts read.
According to police, Mr McRae then tried to grab Senior Constable Leo’s gun.
After Senior Constable Leo ‘escalated the use of force’, officers finally performed a wrist lock and handcuffs on Mr. McRae.
The video shows Mr McRae being lifted into a kneeling position and held for another minute with Senior Constable Leo’s knee in his back and his head pushed forward before being pulled to his feet.
The incident was witnessed by members of the public.
A NSW Police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia Mr McRae had been charged ‘after allegedly being involved in a confrontation outside Kings Cross Police Station’.
“After examining evidence, those charges were dropped in November 2019,” the spokesperson said.
A subsequent internal investigation was carried out following a complaint against an officer associated with Kings Cross PAC.
“That complaint was not honored and no further action was taken.”
Senior Constable Leo is no longer with the police force.