Cop who punched teen released from jail, as court grants leave to appeal
A former policeman has been released from prison after the Supreme Court of Appeal granted him leave to appeal against a conviction for punching a teenage boy and then perverting the course of justice.
Former Senior Constable Simon Mareangareu, 55, was sentenced to a year in jail in August last year, after County Court Judge Jeanette Morrish described the attack in 2014 as "disgraceful and utterly abhorrent".
Judge Morrish had said Mr Mareangareu "meted out summary justice" to Kyan Foster, then 16, and then prepared a brief of evidence to have the teen charged with offences he had not committed.
But on Tuesday, the Court of Appeal granted Mr Mareangareu leave to appeal his conviction, with the full reasons for that decision expected to be handed down on Wednesday afternoon.
As a New Zealand citizen, Mr Mareangareu was facing deportation, but could now be granted a re-trial or have his conviction quashed. The 55-year-old was due to be released from prison in August.
Mr Mareangareu was suspended without pay by Victoria Police in June 2018, when found guilty of two charges that stemmed from the arrest of Mr Foster and his friend Stuart Laird, then 17, in Vermont in Melbourne's east in the early hours of Christmas Day 2014.
Mr Mareangareu admitted during the trial that he punched Mr Foster, then 16, in the face as hard as he could as the teenager was providing his personal details.
The former policeman had claimed he was acting in self-defence and retaliated when Mr Foster struck him in the arm.
The jury also found Mr Mareangareu guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice, for his conduct in preparing a brief of evidence against Mr Foster and friend Stuart Laird, then 17, over the following months over allegations they assaulted police, resisted arrest and possessed marijuana.
Mareangareu's offending would never have come to light had Mr Laird not recorded the altercation with the camera on his mobile phone. The footage was deleted while Mr Laird and Mr Foster were held in custody at Nunawading police station.
However, Mr Laird’s father paid an IT expert to retrieve the deleted data, which revealed Mareangareu had punched Mr Foster in the face, leaving him with a bloodied nose.
Mareangareu's partner, former leading senior constable Dennis Gundrill, was also charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, among other offences, but was found not guilty on all charges.
Mr Gundrill was sacked by Victoria Police in 2017 over inappropriate conduct that was not related to the trial.
More to come