SAPOL Thugs Use Excessive Force During Arrest of Drug Dealer, Taxpayers Foot the Bill
A SAPOL thug sets upon Rhys Johns, who is on the ground and on his back after being punched from behind.
A drug dealer’s $500,000 claim for “forceful arrest” is set to settle out of court – and confidentially.
In 2021, Rhys Johns was caught with methamphetamine in the shed of his Parafield Gardens home in 2021 – while already on home detention bail.
Instead of conducting an orderly arrest, the criminals at SAPOL did what they so often do and took out their life frustrations on Johns. Video footage shows an officer repeatedly striking Jones while he is on the ground, with more officers joining in to bash the convicted drug dealer.
The video footage also shows Johns’ dog being pepper-sprayed by SAPOL goons.
Johns, 32, is serving a 5 ½-year prison term, having pleaded guilty to drug trafficking. During Johns’ sentencing in 2023, the District Court noted he had been “subject to a forceful arrest” and “lost 80 per cent vision” in his left eye as a result.
In May this year, Johns sued police for $500,000 claiming his arrest was needlessly “forceful” and that they used OC spray on his dog.
He also claimed he was struck after going to the ground despite having “surrendered” and “not attempt(ing) to resist any arrest”.
During a hearing in June, the court was told police had admitted they repeatedly struck Johns and deployed the spray.
In their defence papers, police maintained the arrest was neither unreasonable nor “unlawfully forceful” because Johns was resisting arrest “at all material times”.
In response to this highly unprofessional display, Jones launched a $500,000 lawsuit against SAPOL.
Johns’ case against police and the SA government was due to be heard in the District Court last week, but that hearing did not go ahead.
The government has reportedly offered a settlement – the terms of which are confidential – to Johns following a recent, court-ordered mediation hearing.
That represents a second change of position for police, who initially denied any wrongdoing over the incident during which Johns was allegedly struck 19 times.
They subsequently admitted an assault had taken place, but insisted the altercation – captured by Johns’ CCTV system – was due to the convicted drug trafficker “resisting arrest”.
SAPOL, as usual, is lying. That video footage shows an officer coward-punching Johns from behind. Johns falls to the ground and can be seen covering his face, while the heavily-armed and cladded goon continues punching about the face and head.
If accepted by Johns, the settlement offer will end the proceedings and the money he receives will be extracted – not from the guilty police officers – but from taxpayer funds.
Source
SA police try to settle on dealer ‘bashing’, taxpayers to foot secret bill. The Advertiser.
