Two former New South Wales police officers have been sentenced to at least three years in prison for assaulting a naked woman experiencing a mental health episode during a welfare check in Sydney's west in January 2023.
Nathan Black, 28, and Timothy John Trautsch, 30, were sentenced at Penrith District Court on Friday. Black received a total sentence of five years and nine months with a non-parole period of three years and three months, while Trautsch was sentenced to five years and six months with a non-parole period of three years.
The court heard that the officers punched, kicked and pepper-sprayed the 48-year-old woman over an 18-minute period in an industrial cul-de-sac. Judge Graham Turnbull described the attack as 'calculated to inflict maximum pain and discomfort' and labelled the officers' conduct as 'cowardly and disgraceful'.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was pushed onto the road, kicked twice in the head, dragged by her hair and pepper-sprayed six times, including on her face and back. Some pepper spray reached her genitals. The judge noted the officers made no attempt to use de-escalation techniques or 'kindly manner' approaches.
Both officers pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including assault occasioning actual bodily harm and using a prohibited weapon without a permit. Black also admitted to publishing body-worn footage. Acting NSW Police Commissioner David Hudson condemned the actions as 'unforgivable' and among the worst breaches of police ethics he had seen in 40 years.
