Anzac Day terror raid: Eathan Cruse suing police for brutality
A Victorian police officer has admitted delivering “hammer strikes” to a young man’s head during a counter-terror raid.
Eathan Cruse was 19 when he was arrested during a raid on his family home in Melbourne’s south east in April 2015 after being identified as a person of interest in a conspiracy plan to behead a police officer in an Anzac Day terror attack.
Mr Cruse was never charged.
In a civil trial in the Supreme Court, Mr Cruse is claiming he was punched or kicked to the shoulder and head while lying face down on the floor with his hands tied behind his back.
His wrists were tied and he was restrained almost immediately after police arrived, he said.
Mr Cruise is suing the police force for battery, claiming he has suffered chronic adjustment disorder with an anxious and depressed mood and post-traumatic stress disorder since his arrest.
It was revealed in his opening legal argument on Monday that one of the officers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted “delivering four or five hammer strikes” to Mr Cruse’s shoulder and the back of his head, using the underside of his fist.
But police are defending the damages claim, arguing Mr Cruse was not handcuffed when the strikes were delivered and that the action was a reasonable attempt to subdue the then 19-year-old.
Mr Cruse must prove his version of events.
If that fails, his lawyers will argue the force used by police was not reasonable or necessary.
It’s for police to prove it was.
Mr Cruse is due to give evidence on Monday.
AAP and staff writers
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