Criminal lawyers for assaulting, resisting, and hindering police offences

Criminal lawyers for assaulting, resisting, and hindering police offences

Australian Criminal Law Group are expert criminal lawyers at defending charges of assaulting, resisting, and hindering police.

Below, our criminal lawyers, with 500+ five-star Google reviews, break down what police need to prove when they charge you with these offences and how we beat them.

Assaulting a police officer

The offences for resisting arrest are found at:

• Section 58 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), which has a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment in the District Court and 2 years imprisonment in the Local Court.
• Section 60 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), which has:

•  A maximum penalty of 12 months imprisonment when there is no injury.
• A maximum penalty of 7 years imprisonment when the police officer suffers actual bodily harm.
• A maximum penalty of 9 years imprisonment when the police officer suffers actual bodily harm during public disorder.
• A maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment when the police officer is wounded or suffers grievous bodily harm during public disorder.

You will be found not guilty of Assaulting a police officer if the police cannot prove beyond reasonable doubt:

1. You assaulted the person, and
2. The person was a police officer, and
3. The police officer was acting in the execution of his/her duty.
4. The injury occasioned and its severity.

An assault is the intentional or reckless application of force to the person of another. It is an act that intentionally or recklessly causes another person to apprehend immediate and unlawful violence, including words.

It is not necessary for the prosecution to prove that you knew that the person was an officer on duty. An officer not acting within his formal work hours can be acting in the execution of his duty if the police officer’s conduct is connected to his functions as a police officer and he does not do anything outside the ambit of his duty.  

Resisting Arrest

The offences for resisting arrest are found at:

• Section 58 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), which has a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment in the District Court and 2 years imprisonment in the Local Court.
• Section 60 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), which has a maximum penalty of 12 months imprisonment.

You will be found not guilty of resisting arrest if the police cannot prove beyond reasonable doubt:

1. You resisted the person.
2. The person was a police officer.
3. The resistance occurred while the police officer was acting in the execution of their duty.

To be guilty of resisting, the resistor must actually intend to oppose or restrain a police officer. The word “resist” implies opposing by force some course of action that the person resisted is attempting to pursue.  To “resist” such a course of action, the person said to resist must know what that attempted course of action is, i.e., arresting the person. A person may not be guilty of resisting arrest if the arrest is not lawful and the police officer is not acting in the ‘execution of their duty’.

Hindering a police officer

The offences for resisting arrest are found at:

• Section 60 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), which has a maximum penalty of 12 months imprisonment.

You will be found not guilty of hindering if the police cannot prove:

1. You hindered a person.
2. The person was a police officer.
3. The hindrance occurred while the police officer was acting in the execution of their duty.

To be guilty of hindering, the hinderer must actually intend to hinder the police officer.  In order to hinder police, you must make the performance of the officer’s duty substantially more difficult.

When is a police officer not acting in the execution of their duty?

The charges against you will be dismissed if the prosecution fails to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that police are ‘acting in the execution of their duty’.

Ways in which police might not be in the execution of their duty include:

• The absence of a reasonable suspicion pursuant to LEPRA s.99(1)(a).
• Failure to arrest for one of the purposes in LEPRA s.99(1)(b).
• Arrest for a purpose other than the commencement of proceedings (e.g. arrest for the purposes of questioning only).
• The failure to lawfully announce the arrest (in breach of LEPRA s.202).
• The use of excessive (and therefore unlawful) force.

Use of excessive force and self-defence

An arrest is not lawful if a police officer uses more force than what is reasonable. A citizen has the lawful right to use reasonable force to resist an unlawful arrest – see s.418(2)(b) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) and also the decision of Christie v Leachinsky [1947] AC 573 that states:

“Putting first things first, I would say that it is the right of every citizen to be free from arrest unless there is in some other citizen, whether a constable or not, the right to arrest him. And I would say next that it is the corollary of the right is that he should be entitled to resist arrest unless that arrest is lawful.”

There are limitations to self-defence. For self-defence to be raised, there must be evidence that you:

• You believed your conduct was necessary in order to defend yourself and
• Your conduct was a reasonable response in the circumstances as you perceived them.

Once raised, the police must prove beyond reasonable doubt either:

• You  did not believe your conduct was necessary to defend yourself or
• Your conduct was not a reasonable response in the circumstances as you perceived them.

The defence of self-defence is found in sections 418-423 of the Crimes Act 1900 NSW.

Contact Australian Criminal Law Group

If you are charged with assaulting, resisting or hindering a police officer, contact us on 8815 8167 or via website enquiry.

We offer fixed fees and free first consultations by phone or video or at our offices in Sydney, Parramatta, and Blacktown.