Police arrest
IN PHOTO: A policeman detains a protester during a protest against Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza and his bid for a third term in Bujumbura, Burundi May 19, 2015. Burundi police fire tear gas and beat protesters who are demanding Nkurunziza end his bid for a third term, in a resurgence of unrest that has stoked fears of ethnic conflict in Africa's Great Lakes. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

Leighton Robert Arnott, a Darwin policeman, assaulted two 14-year-old boys in the northern suburb of the city, the court has heard. The cop assaulted the boys during an arrest in July last year.

During the court case, prosecution lawyer Tiarni McNamee stated one of the teens told him that he had surrendered to the cop yet he was still punched several times on his head. The court listened to the statements, according to which, Arnott told the teenager “stop resisting you little s---” though he wasn’t trying to resist.

The Director of Public Prosecutions argued that Arnott, 29, used excessive force when the two teens surrendered themselves. This accounts to severe assault. The defence will put its point in the courtroom Tuesday.

McNamee said that there were pictures of injuries from the Darwin watch house in the court that clearly indicated the cop’s harsh behaviour on the teens. The other victim gave evidence that he was injured from the multiple punches he received from Arnott while he was restrained on the ground. The lawyer further said that Officer Sarah Hutchison, another cop from the Darwin watch house, arrived at the scene and saw Arnott swinging his arm at one of the teens.

“She [Ms Hutchison] saw the defendant swinging his right arm three of four times to the youth’s body. She was taken by surprise,” McNamee said. Another cop who accompanied Hutchison on the scene in a marked police car also confirmed the incident. “The youth was lying on his side on the grass and he saw the defendant lift his right arm up and punches were thrown," McNamee recalled the cop's statement.

The two teens were arrested on separate occasions on the same afternoon on suspicion of jointly breaking into a house.

This is not the first case of police brutality time. In the U.S., a Texas police officer was caught on camera manhandling a 14-year-old girl in a bikini after a pool party arrest. The officer resigned following public uproar.

Arnott had been suspended from duty without pay since the incident.

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