EXCLUSIVE
SENTENCE IMPOSED
A POLICE officer convicted of perjury and fabricating evidence after an incident in a police cell almost seven years ago has been handed a suspended jail sentence.
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Magistrate Michael Holmes imposed a 12 month suspended jail term on Sergeant Anthony Kirk after he found him guilty of two offences, during a decision handed down in Armidale Local Court on Thursday morning.
“Both are serious matters, both strike at the heart of justice,” he told the court.
Mr Holmes said he was “not sentencing [Kirk] for what others have done or may have done”, but instead, he said the evidence police provide both on oath and in statements “must be accurate and fullsome”.
“It is a very significant breach under a public justice offence as such,” he said.
“The sad thing is that it is only a few lines but it is significant.”
The court was told Kirk had “almost certainly” lost his police career, with the NSW Commissioner to determine his future.
Mr Holmes said he had taken that into account and acknowledged the enormous stress this must have placed on Kirk, but he found against him after reviewing the CCTV of the incident in the police cell on September 26, 2009.
“You as a sergeant of police have a responsibility,” he told Kirk in sentencing.
“To ensure the evidence you provide to courts and in statements are accurate.”
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) solicitor Laura Goodwin called for a sentence of full time imprisonment for such a serious public justice offence, adding that Sergeant Kirk was the most senior officer in the custody room of the Armidale Police Station on the night of the incident.
“In the present matter, there was consequences that flowed,” she submitted.
“Ms Boekeman was initially convicted of the assault occasioning on Senior Constable Kentish.”
Kirk’s barrister David Carroll said the seven year ordeal of the investigations and court proceedings had taken a significant toll on his client.
He said his client had been a law-abiding officer since he started his career in the force in 1991.
“He has continued working, continued contributing to the community as a law-abiding officer,” he said.
“Since the offending behaviour there has been a continuation of that exceptional policing work … which would have been confirmed by the area commander.”
Mr Carroll submitted Kirk had been the victim of an assault on the night of the incident and there was some degree of provocation.
“It is a serious matter and he was the victim of a serious assault [by Ms Boekeman],” he told the court.
“That is a relevant factor that feeds in to what happened.”
Mr Carroll said Kirk appeared to have made his statement “at 7 or 8am,... after a long shift.”
“Senior Constable Kentish’s position … one line in that statement ... the criminality involved was not pre-meditated,” he said.
“That one line was not planned, premeditated or considered.”
Ms Goodwin submitted the assault on Kirk was “not serious”.
“It doesn’t go that high ... it wasn’t a serious assault,” she submitted.
“In the execution of that arrest Ms Boekeman managed to crush Sergeant Kirk’s hand.”
In calling for full time imprisonment, Ms Goodwin argued Kirk “was in a position of authority”.
“[To] assist in the administration of justice not to hinder or misappropriate it,” she said.
He was convicted on both counts and handed a 12 month suspended sentence on each offence.
He was briefly taken into custody for processing before being released.
GUILTY FINDINGS
A POLICE officer has been found guilty of perjury and fabricating evidence over an incident in a police cell in Armidale in 2009.
Sergeant Anthony Kirk who is a serving sergeant attached to the Northern Region was found guilty of two charges on Thursday morning in Armidale Local Court.
Magistrate Michael Holmes found the sergeant guilty of fabricating part of his police statement on September 26, 2009, as well as making a false statement to Armidale Local Court in a case on July 23, 2010.
Mr Holmes acknowledged the defence submission that “it has been argued that has been simply a mistake…”
But he found “there was no suggestion by the accused at the hearing in Armidale Local Court that his view was obscured”.
“He enhanced his statement,” Mr Holmes found in outlining the reasons for his decision.
Mr Holmes said the Director of Public Prosecutions had proved “each essential element” of both the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
“I find the preparation of the statement was designed to support the actions of Senior Constable [Nigel] Kentish,” he said.
“And not to truly reflect what he had witnessed.”
Sergeant Anthony Kirk had pleaded not guilty to both charges, which stem from an alleged assault by his co-accused Nigel Douglas Kentish in Armidale Police Station in September, 2009, on Janel Boekeman.
More to come.