Two former NSW Police officers assaulted, kicked, stomped on and capsicum sprayed a naked, mentally unwell woman in a Western Sydney street before one of them sent body-worn camera clips to a colleague, a court has heard.
WARNING: This story contains descriptions of violence that readers may find distressing.
Timothy John Trautsch, 30, and Nathan Black, 28, were called to an Emu Plains cul-de-sac in January 2023 after police received calls about the woman.
The pair found the 48-year-old sitting on the ground near a tree.
Their subsequent treatment of her — recorded on body-worn camera and nearby CCTV — resulted in charges including assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company, common assault and using a prohibited weapon.
The men have pleaded guilty to those charges, while Black also pleaded guilty to two counts of intentionally publishing protected information.
Penrith District Court on Thursday heard the woman was in a florid state of psychosis.
According to court documents, the woman had schizophrenia and was not medicated in the lead-up to the incident.
She had been released from Amber Laural Correction Centre earlier that day.
Interaction between officers and the woman
In body-worn footage played during a sentencing hearing, the woman can be heard telling the officers: "If you touch me, you are f***ed".
In the lead-up to the assault, she said: "I'll put you both down like a piece of shit, so f*** off".
At this point, an ambulance was on the way.
"You'll be going to Nepean Hospital," one of the officers told her.
The woman tells the officers "they can't physically take me" and "I'm not scared".
She stands up and moves across the road, and at a later point is lying on the ground, kicking at the officers.
Black is seen holding his handcuffs and the pair mention they "need a taser". They both go to their car and return.
"Please, I'm strong, God, but not without you, God," the woman screams.
The court heard the woman defecated and when she again moves across the street, she repeatedly says "God protect me".
At one point, Black's body-worn camera appears to be recording from the ground.
After being told to put her hands behind her back, the woman is heard groaning as she was restrained.
'That's enough, there could be cameras'
According to a statement of agreed facts, Trautsch OC-sprayed the woman while she was sitting cross-legged, including to her face and genitals.
Black also used OC spray — commonly known as capsicum or pepper spray — to her face and bare back, which was grazed.
Black "dragged [her] along the roadway by her hair" and both men "repeatedly kick and stomp on [her] whilst she is on the ground", the facts state.
Trautsch said to Black: "That's enough, there could be cameras."
Paramedics were concerned about the treatment of the woman and contacted their manager for advice before speaking to nursing staff.
According to the facts, Black was asked by hospital staff if she had been sprayed with OC spray to her genitals.
"Yes, you have to do what you have to do," he replied.
Video, messages sent to a colleague
After the incident, Black sent a colleague a 17-second video from his mobile phone depicting the beginning of the incident.
"Both OC cans emptied on her. Was f***ed," he wrote.
"She was f***ed the whole body-worn is so good shows her being f***ed."
He said nurses had lodged a complaint and "we caved her, but she had a hold of the cuffs and we had no other options".
Black sent a clip of the body-worn footage which went for about one-and-a-half minutes, and a separate, slightly shorter clip.
Prosecutors have told the court the incident "never should have got to that stage" — and submitted that even when things escalated, the woman was not enough of a threat that would justify actions such as kicks to the head.
The court heard the woman has since died, in circumstances unconnected to her assault.
NSW Police said that after a "comprehensive internal investigation" the two men were issued with legal notices foreshadowing their possible removal from the force.
They resigned in August 2023.
The sentencing hearing will continue on Tuesday.
