A police officer accused of assaulting a 16-year-old in Byron Bay nearly three years ago is to face trial this week.
Senior Constable Michial Luke Greenhalgh, 39, is alleged to have assaulted the boy as part of an arrest in Lateen Lane some time between two and three o’clock in the morning on 11 January 2018.
Video footage of the arrest made national headlines and was later used as evidence in a Law Enforcement Conduct Commission inquiry.
The inquiry examined the actions of all four policemen involved in the arrest and ended with a recommendation for the Department of Public Prosecutions to consider charging one of the officers, later revealed as Sen-Constable Greenhalgh, with assault.
Accused officer transferred from Byron to Lismore
At preliminary court hearings, Sen-Constable Greenhalgh’s defence has said the accused was transferred from Bryon Bay police station to Lismore some time after the controversial arrest.
Sen-Constable Greenhalgh hasn’t yet appeared in court over the matter but a four-day trial is scheduled to start today in Lismore.
His is charged with one count of assault.
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