Disturbing new police bodycam footage has emerged showing two officers brutally attacking and pepper spraying a woman lying naked on a road during a psychotic episode. The identity of the woman, Jodi Knott, has been made public for the first time.
Family Speaks Out
Nichole Allen and Sharee Castagna, cousins of Ms Knott, were sickened by the footage in which NSW Police officers Senior Constable Nathan Black and Constable Timothy John Trautsch brutalised their 48-year-old relative. The pair fought for the footage to be released after Ms Knott died of cancer 18 months following the 2023 attack. They want her legacy to be better police training for mental health incidents.
"They didn't care that there were cameras around or that their bodycam footage was on," Ms Castagna told ABC's Four Corners. "That says to me that there is a significant cultural issue within the police … that this type of behaviour is OK."
Ms Allen added: "She had nothing on her. She was naked, she's vulnerable. What is she going to do to them? Two burly blokes rocking up like that. She's not going to do anything. They chose to continuously brutalise her and attack her every step, at every moment. She was down on that ground and they just continued to lay into her. It's horrific."
Details of the Attack
In January 2023, plain-clothed officers Black and Trautsch were called to an industrial area at Emu Plains for a welfare check and found Ms Knott naked, crouching under a tree. Black put on blue surgical gloves before approaching her. The bodycam captured the exchange: "It's not about being scared," Black said. "It is about being scared of you," Ms Knott screamed. "I'm terrified of you people, go away. You can't physically beat me. F*** off."
The footage shows Black and Trautsch stomping on Ms Knott as she lay on the road. Black pepper-sprayed her grazes, and she was sprayed at close range in the face—a dangerous practice outlawed due to the risk of eye injuries. "Get it in her eyes, get it in her eyes," one officer can be heard saying. After both emptied their pepper-spray canisters, Black asked for a taser. "God, please. I'm strong God, but not without you," Ms Knott yelled as Trautsch laughed. "Oi, is there a long baton in the car?" Black asked. "Yeah, that'll settle her down," Trautsch responded.
Legal Consequences
Both officers admitted using unlawful force and were jailed in July 2024. The assault occurred just 300 metres from Amber Laurel Correctional Centre, where Ms Knott had been released earlier that day. She became disoriented while walking to Emu Plains train station. Court documents reveal Ms Knott suffered from schizophrenia and was not taking her antipsychotic medication at the time. Black kicked her in the head and dragged her by the hair along the bitumen, leaving her back badly grazed.
Black pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, using a prohibited weapon without a permit, three counts of common assault, and two counts of intentionally publishing protected information after sending bodycam clips to another officer. In a message, he described emptying two cans of pepper spray on the woman. Trautsch pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, three counts of common assault, and one count of using a prohibited weapon without a permit. Both officers no longer work for the NSW Police Force.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson called it one of the worst misconduct cases in his 40-year career. In August 2024, NSW District Court Judge Graham Turnbull described the ordeal as a "deliberate and ongoing attack" and a "most egregious breach of the law." He noted the pepper spray use was "clearly calculated to inflict maximum pain and discomfort" and that the officers showed "complete and utter contempt" for the victim. Black was jailed for a maximum of five years and nine months with a minimum of three years and three months. Trautsch received a five-year and nine-month maximum term with a minimum of three years.
Three months after the attack, Ms Knott was involved in another incident with police at her home, where officers tasered her twice. Police did not take a specialist mental health clinician, known as a PACER nurse, to any of these call-outs.
