Hells Angels bikie 'violently' resisting arrest captured in body camera footage by NT Police
Updated
A high-ranking Hells Angels bikie has been found guilty of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer following a dramatic takedown in Darwin, which one officer said was the most violent resistance he'd seen in 30 years of policing.
Body camera footage shows Phillip O'Shea, who police say is a sergeant-at-arms for the Northern Territory chapter of the Hells Angels, being tasered multiple times by members of the NT Police Territory Response Group (TRG) in his Palmerston home in October 2017.
Police raided the property after gaining evidence of O'Shea obtaining drugs.
The 44-year-old can be heard groaning and swearing at officers as he is apprehended in the video footage, and after being instructed by officers to extend his arms, exclaimed "I can't mate… I can't breathe".
O'Shea faced the Darwin Local Court on Monday morning for a hearing, charged with possessing a trafficable quantity of drugs, resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer.
His lawyer John Lawrence SC told the court his client had been "badly mistreated" by police, and described the matter as a question of "conduct and behaviour".
"If the body-cam footage was to be played on television, they would have to put a warning before it," he told the court.
However, those claims were rejected by senior crown prosecutor David Morters, who said police had "good reason" to believe O'Shea would have responded violently in the raid, and therefore acted reasonably.
Under cross-examination, at least two police officers told the court O'Shea advanced towards them in a threatening manner.
One of them, NT Police Sergeant Scott Rose, later testified that he had not witnessed "such a violent level of resistance" in his 30 years of policing.
Another officer, known only as "Hoskings", admitted to punching O'Shea in the side of the face because he feared for another officer's safety.
Judge Tanya Fong Lim determined the admission should be taken seriously, as "Hoskings" would have been unlikely to have made the claim if he had not felt it was necessary.
"The defendant has, by attempting to get past [Sergeant] Rose, threatened an application of force by the momentum of his body towards Rose's body, and clearly had the ability to apply that force," Judge Fong Lim told the court.
The body camera footage also shows TRG officers armed with guns and tasers entering O'Shea's bedroom, where they discovered what was later determined to be 11.5 grams of methamphetamine.
Mr Lawrence claimed police admitted to "reconstructing" the discovery of the drugs for the body camera footage, and said there were inconsistent reports from police about how much methamphetamine had been located, with one officer initially reporting that five grams was found.
However, this defence was dismissed by Judge Fong Lim, who found O'Shea guilty of possessing a trafficable quantity of drugs, resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer.
He will be sentenced on July 31.