Two Queensland police officers punished for misconduct have had their sanctions reduced on appeal by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
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Senior Constable Michael O'Sullivan originally received a suspended 12-month demotion after he was involved in a physical altercation with a disability pensioner at a service station, with the pensioner falling to the ground.
In a similar but unrelated case, Senior Constable Michael Kuhn was demoted 12 months from March 2016 for grabbing a woman remanded in custody by the neck and shoving her into a cell, causing her to fall.
In an agreed statement of facts, Senior Constable O'Sullivan confronted a disability pensioner at a service station in July 2015 over an alleged driving incident the man had been in moments before.
An argument followed, "with both parties using derogatory language".
The off-duty police officer grabbed the pensioner's arm and pushed him into a petrol bowser, before the pensioner ended up on the ground. It was only then that Senior Constable O'Sullivan identified himself as a police officer.
Senior Constable O'Sullivan's 12-month demotion to constable (and accompanying pay cut) was suspended by the deputy commissioner on a number of conditions, which included the officer performing 50 hours of community service and meeting with a human services officer once a month.
In the recently published QCAT review, member Michelle Howard found the force used by Senior Constable O'Sullivan "was inappropriate and excessive", and the whole incident "reflects poorly on the police service".
Ms Howard said the officer's service history was "good" despite a "significant number of complaints against him", and he was "highly regarded" among his colleagues.
Finding his punishment to be excessive, and noting he had already satisfied the conditions of his suspended sanction, the tribunal ruled he had satisfied the conditions of his suspended sanction.
In the case of Senior Constable Kuhn, the policeman was demoted for using inappropriate force when moving a woman remanded in custody into a cell.
Investigations identified that Senior Constable Kuhn was giving the woman lunch through the meal access door of the cell at the Toowoomba Watchhouse when they had a verbal exchange.
He then pulled her out of the cell by her arm, grabbed her by the throat and made her walk backwards until they reached the padded violent detention cell. Using both hands, he "forcefully pushed" her backwards into the cell. The woman stumbled and fell on her buttocks and her upper body hit the padded cell wall.
The deputy commissioner who first sanctioned Senior Constable Kuhn wanted the punishment to "convey the gravity of the misconduct".
Senior Constable Kuhn applied for QCAT to review the decision, and member Margaret McLennan found "Mr Kuhn has demonstrated full co-operation with the disciplinary process and willingness to fulfil the conditions attached to his demotion".
Ms McLennan set aside the initial sanction of a 12-month demotion, and replaced it with an "appropriate" six-month demotion.
