Charge dismissed after police taser, forcefully arrest man for drinking alcohol in public

Body camera footage shows police forcefully arresting a man, including appearing to taser him twice, after he was allegedly spotted with a can of alcohol in a Civic car park.

But while Joshua Ford was handed a fine-only charge from the 6 August 2023 incident, this charge was ultimately dismissed after a magistrate questioned how police officers were certain that he had actually been drinking alcohol.

The body-worn camera footage, which was tendered to the ACT Magistrates Court, shows a police car driving up beside Mr Ford as he stands with a can in a stubbie holder in the Theatre Lane carpark.

“Do you want to put the drink down, mate? … because you’re drinking in public, and you’ve just made a c-k of yourself, calling out to us,” an officer tells him.

Another officer grabs the can and tries to take it out of his hands, but he doesn’t let go and says, “Don’t touch me, brah”.

When he pulls his arm away, the first officer grabs his arm and tells him, “You’re under arrest”.

A scuffle ensues, during which an officer appears to grab Mr Ford’s throat, before he is taken to the ground and an officer yells, “Taser, taser”.

Mr Ford can be heard screaming while it appears he is tasered twice.

Meanwhile, police tell bystanders to “Stay the f-k back”, and an officer can be seen pointing another taser at them.

Two police officers arrest Mr Ford, while a third holds on to the taser used to subdue him.

The 26-year-old was handed a charge of possessing an open container of liquor in a certain public place, which carries a maximum penalty of an $800 fine, to which he pleaded guilty on Monday (15 January).

The prosecutor withdrew a charge of resisting a public official.

His lawyer, Emilia Currey of the Aboriginal Legal Service, then played the body-worn camera footage to the court, saying it went to the question of whether he had suffered extra-curial punishment.

Several of her client’s supporters were in the courtroom’s gallery and shook their heads when it was played.

Magistrate Robert Cook asked for the footage to be played a second time, then questioned how police were able to ascertain that Mr Ford had actually been drinking alcohol, as the can he was holding was in a stubbie holder.

The prosecutor said she did not have the footage of what occurred earlier, nor information that confirmed the officers’ suspicion of the can’s contents, except for the strong inferences from the situation.

Magistrate Cook said he could not find the offense proved without that information.

Ultimately, he said with no evidence to offer, he would dismiss the charge and withdraw Mr Ford’s guilty plea on the basis that there was no evidence to accept it.