A POLICE officer who was convicted of twice assaulting an intellectually disabled teenager who spat on him in the custody area of Toronto police station was acting in self-defence and responded "proportionately", Newcastle District Court has heard.
Wayne Heath Cheers, now 52, a more than 30-year veteran of the police force, was found guilty of two counts of common assault after a hearing in Toronto Local Court in October last year.
Cheers was convicted, sentenced to a three-year community corrections order, told to perform 250 hours of community service and fined $1000.
The veteran police officer launched an all grounds appeal against his conviction in Newcastle District Court, with his barrister, Jack Tyler-Stott, asking rhetorically: "What else could he have done?"
"What were the options he had at the time?," Mr Tyler-Stott asked. "He was controlling someone who had just spat on him. "He was doing his best in the moment, thought he was going to be spat at again and acted spontaneously."
The prosecution have said Cheers's conduct in swiping at the teenager and then punching him was not a reasonable course of action and, if it was, it was excessive.
Acting Judge Stephen Walmsley will deliver his judgment in Newcastle District Court next month.
It is not able to be proven beyond reasonable doubt that it wasn't a proportionate response to the circumstances he faced at that time.
Defence barrister Jack Tyler-Stott
