Scott 'would have been better off being hit by a car' than facing cops: magistrate
Curtis Scott will have more than $100,000 in legal costs paid by NSW Police after a magistrate ruled the NRL star would have been better off being "hit by a car" on the Australia Day weekend.
Earlier this month, a police prosecutor argued that Scott was handcuffed as officers feared he would run onto the road.
Magistrate Jennifer Giles said that while she knew it was an "absurd analogy" she believed Scott "genuinely" would have been better off wandering onto the roadway than running into police on January 27.
"At least he would still had the free use of his hands, been upright and conscious and would have gotten an ambulance much more quickly than he does with these police," she said. "He wouldn't have been blinded for 20 minutes and wouldn't have been electrocuted while lying on the ground."
"Try to watch the body-cam footage without flinching ... and try to remember you are not watching gratuitous violence off the dark web."
The 22-year-old was charged with seven offences, including assaulting two police officers, after falling asleep in Moore Park following a night out at the Ivy nightclub.
Curtis Scott has been awarded more than $100,000 in legal costs following his unlawful arrest.Credit:Rhett Wyman
The charges, however, were dismissed earlier this month after body-camera footage from the arresting officers was shown in court.
Giles ruled Scott's full cost be paid out by NSW Police to the total of $100,792.30 and described the police's actions as "terrifying".
"There was no reasonable cause in initiating this prosecution. If you insist in doing that ... then you pay everyone's cost for dragging it there," she said.
"When you've got the commissioner on radio saying he's very supportive of these police officers I'd like him to have a think about that, really I would," Macedone said.
Scott will likely launch civil action against the officers involved, with Macedone adamant they will be seeking "nothing less than six figures" over the incident.
"I said all along I tried my best to prevent all of this ... I couldn't have done any more . If they wanted to poke the bear, well they did, and this is what you get," Macedone said. "Why on earth would you want this video to run in public, why? They just kept saying they were going to do it."
Manager Sam Ayoub described the abuse Scott had suffered as a result of the ordeal and said the Raiders centre had been "called names walking down the street".
"He has been through hell, his family have been through hell," he said. "I just spoke with him and he was in tears.
"He's just happy that people know exactly what happened."
Ayoub said he saw the police body-worn footage 12 hours after the incident and was in tears himself afterwards.
"He has suffered damages that will last the rest of his life, mentally, the trauma, it has affected his whole game this year," Ayoub said. "Everyone will remember this. You don't get away from this."
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Sarah is a journalist for The Sydney Morning Herald.