Former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas has been awarded over $20,000 for legal costs after police dropped charges relating to a pro-Palestine protest in which she was injured.
ICYMI, Thomas — who previously ran against Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Grayndler — allegedly sustained a serious eye injury in June while being arrested during a protest at the electroplating business, SEC Plating, in Belmore in Sydney’s southwest.
The protest was in response to SEC Plating’s alleged manufacturing of components used in jets flown by Israeli Defence Forces. The company has denied those allegations.
In the fallout, Thomas alleged she was punched in the face by a police officer and injured to the point of almost losing vision in one eye. She was charged with hindering or resisting police and two counts of refusing to comply with a direction to disperse, during what police alleged was an unauthorised protest.
Earlier this month, all those charges against Thomas relating to the arrest were dropped, and she has now been awarded legal costs to the tune of nearly $22,000, the ABC reports.
Thomas appeared at Bankstown Local Court on Friday, where three other co-accused people in relation to the case — Shane Reside, Zachary Schofield and Holly Zhang — were also awarded their respective legal fees.
The cases against Reside, Schofield and Zhang stemming from the protest were withdrawn earlier this month.
Speaking of the legal fees in court, Magistrate George Breton said the Thomas’ award was “just and reasonable” given the costs she incurred in defending herself against the charges.
“In this case, it seems that was fairly obvious and a necessary step to take,” Magistrate Breton said, per the ABC.
It comes after both Thomas and her lawyer, Peter O’Brien, mentioned pursuing civil action against NSW Police in relation to the arrest.
In July, O’Brien foreshadowed the civil case on the alleged grounds of “assault and battery, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, misfeasance in public office, and collateral abuse of process”.
Thomas elaborated on the civil case when her charges were dropped this month, saying “every cop at that protest should be reviewed [and] criminal and disciplinary consequences should follow”, per The Sydney Morning Herald.
At the time, NSW Police said in a statement that it could not comment as the “investigation is ongoing”, with Assistant Commissioner Brett McFadden telling ABC “no information at this stage that… indicates any misconduct on behalf of my officers”.
Lead images: Getty Images and Hannah Thomas/Instagram
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