Adrian Lacroix outside the Supreme Court in Hobart. Picture: RICHARD JUPE
A TASMANIAN man who alleges he was assaulted by multiple officers in the Hobart police station last year has taken the unusual step of launching a private prosecution over the alleged attack.
Adrian Lacroix, of Howrah, yesterday fronted the Magistrates Court in Hobart to bring assault charges against four constables over his alleged physical mistreatment in October 2015.
Despite Director of Public Prosecutions Daryl Coates, SC, appearing in court to take over the prosecution and then electing to discontinue it, Mr Lacroix remains undeterred and yesterday afternoon filed a motion to review the decision in the Supreme Court.
While acknowledging that a private prosecution was not the typical path to justice, Mr Lacroix said he was determined to take a stand.
“It’s unusual, but I think it’s a public interest situation where every Tasmanian citizen has the right to safety, and the right to be treated respectfully,” he said.
“The DPP told the magistrate that he didn’t see the case succeeding, but that should be for a court to determine.
“That’s the whole idea of having a private prosecution — that the court decides.
“I feel very much like justice has been delayed,” he said.
Law Society of Tasmania president Matthew Verney said private prosecutions — where a private citizen rather than a police officer or director of public prosecutions launches a prosecution — were “very uncommon”.
Mr Lacroix is no stranger to launching court action. In 2013, as a witness in the coronial inquest into the downing death of his mother-in-law, Elizabeth Ann Higgins, Mr Lacroix lodged an ultimately unsuccessful application with the Supreme Court seeking a ruling to have coroner Glenn Hay removed from the case.
Mr Lacroix said that during the alleged incident at the police station, he was dragged along the ground inside the police garage, struck to the ribs with a baton while lying face down on the ground, and left lying naked on a concrete floor.
Mr Lacroix said his subsequent injuries were serious enough to visit the emergency department of Royal Hobart Hospital. He said photos taken by police had not been released to him despite his repeated requests.
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