Hannah Thomas, who was arrested at a Sydney protest in June, will sue New South Wales police after the force dropped all charges against the former Greens candidate.
Thomas was arrested and charged alongside four others at a pro-Palestine protest in Sydney on 27 June that was attended by about 60 people at SEC Plating. The 35-year-old was taken to hospital and underwent two rounds of surgery to her right eye, with her lawyers alleging a police officer punched her in the face.
On Tuesday, at Bankstown local court, the office of the director of public prosecutions said it was dropping the three charges against Thomas. One of the charges included a rarely used emergency power introduced after the 2005 Cronulla riots.
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Thomas’s solicitor, Peter O’Brien, told reporters outside court that his team would be filing civil proceedings against the state of NSW in the supreme court.
They will allege that NSW police pursued a malicious prosecution and also claim Thomas was the victim of assault and battery by police, abuse of process and malfeasance in office.
“The charges [against Thomas] were clearly unsustainable from the very beginning and, as a result, they’ve now been … withdrawn. And that should have happened probably a long time ago,” O’Brien said.
Thomas, who spoke to reporters outside court alongside her lawyers, said she was relieved, but the dropping of the charges was “far from justice”.
She criticised the premier, Chris Minns, for enacting “draconian” anti-protest laws which she claimed had “emboldened police to act violently”.
“Four other protesters from the SE plating action that morning are still facing unfair charges that should never have been brought,” Thomas said outside court.
“They deserve justice as well.”
Thomas had pleaded not guilty to three charges: resisting police, failure to comply with a move-on direction, and refusing or failing to comply with a direction to disperse.
Police said in July that the last charge – which falls under laws used to quell “large-scale public disorders” introduced after the Cronulla riots – would be dropped. It was said that Thomas would instead face another charge of failing to comply with a move-on direction.
Four other protesters charged alongside Thomas have also pleaded not guilty to their various charges relating to the protest and their arrests.
Shortly after Thomas spoke, the charges against 26-year-old Zach Schofield – failing to comply with a police direction and resisting police – were also dropped.
Another protester was scheduled to appear in court later this month, while the two others were due back in court in February.
In June, video footage emerged that showed Schofield being grabbed by a police officer after he asked what legislation empowered the officers to move on the protesters.
In the video, an officer can be heard telling the protesters they are being issued a move-on order and are required to leave Belmore and not return for 24 hours.
Schofield is cut off mid-sentence when asking about the legislation as police officers move to grab him. A scuffle ensues.
Thomas on Tuesday said outside court: “No cops have been held to account for their behaviour that day.
“The punch I sustained was just one example of police brutality that morning. The actions of every cop at that protest should be reviewed.
“It took the police two days to charge me, but 73 days later the male police officer who punched me in the head with enough force to rip open my right eyeball has not been charged.”
Thomas is waiting for a date for a third round of surgery on her eye. She told Guardian Australia she continued to suffer double and blurred vision due to silicone oil injected into her eyeball during surgery. The 35-year-old said she would know how much vision she would regain after the next operation when the oil was removed.
Days after Thomas’s arrest, the assistant commissioner Brett McFadden told ABC radio that he had viewed the body-worn video. He claimed there was “no information at this stage that’s before me that indicates any misconduct on behalf of my officers”.
Thomas’s arrest was declared a critical incident by police, which meant the independent police watchdog was overseeing an investigation into it.
NSW police were unable to provide further comment on Tuesday.
Thomas said protests would continue so long as the “Albanese government maintains the two-way arms trade” with Israel.
“Weapons are still being made in suburbs across this country, weapons that are used by the state of Israel to kill kids in Gaza every single day for more than 700 days.”
The June protest took place at SEC Plating, which the protesters said was manufacturing parts used in the F-35 jet program. SEC Plating has denied this.
