THE TWEED Volume 3 #02 Thursday, September 9, 2010 Advertising and news enquiries: Phone: (02) 6672 2280 editor@tweedecho.com.au adcopy@tweedecho.com.au www.tweedecho.com.au
page 10 LOCAL & INDEPENDENT
Pensioner wins appeal in police assault case Luis Feliu
An 80-year-old pensioner convicted of assaulting a policeman during a scuffle over the use of a police siren at Pottsville village shopping centre in February last year has won his appeal against the charges. The Lismore District Appeals Court recently upheld the appeal by Raymond ‘Bill’ Morrissey, of Hastings Point, against his conviction for assaulting and obstructing the on-duty police officer at Pottsville on February 20, 2009. In his judgement, Justice James Black was critical of the actions of police and the prosecutor in the case,
Mr Morrissey shows the injuries which resulted from his scuffle with a policeman. Photo supplied
saying he hoped not to see a similar case before him ever again. Mr Morrissey had defended the charges but was convicted in Mullumbimby Court last November and placed on a 12-month good-behaviour bond. The maximum penalty for assaulting police is five years in jail. He spoke to The Echo last week about his ordeal resulting from the altercation in the shopping centre carpark involving his wife Fay, friend Pam Roney and the policeman. ‘I’m obviously relieved this is all over but I’ll never forget it, I should never have been charged in the first place’, he said. ‘Now every time I hear a siren I have nightmares about it, I’ve lost a lot of respect for police as a result, which is a pity because Fay and I used to socialise with them,’ Mr Morrissey said. ‘I received lots of letters of support from all over, which was encouraging but there were also a few nasty ones in the papers which criticised me without knowing the facts. ‘Well, now they know, I was innocent all along in this.’ His wife Fay said she ‘didn’t expect to go through something like this over such a simple issue’. The original charges were laid about a month after the incident took place, in which time much publicity on the incident had been generated by the local daily newspaper, including a front-page headline ‘Elderly man in blue with police’ and a follow-up story headed ‘I fought the law’. In earlier court hearings, Mr Morrissey said ‘it all started off with the bloody siren, it scared the living daylights out of me’, referring to a police
Spring flowers go on display
Murwillumbah garden enthusiast Ron Nelson bears an uncanny resemblance to federal opposition leader Tony Abbott and he’s been told that quite often. But, unlike the reinstalled opposition leader, green thumb Ron prefers gardening to bike riding as a pastime and is looking forward to this Saturday’s annual flower and garden expo. He is pictured in the thick of a fresh display of cliveas in the colourful Murwillumbah garden of Twin Towns and District Garden Club secretary John Bennett. Photo Luis Feliu
A popular annual Tweed Heads flower show this Saturday has bloomed into a showcase ‘flower and garden expo’. Show secretary Freda Shaw said that over the past 17 years, Twin Towns and District Garden Club’s flower show had ‘evolved to become much, much more’ thus the name change. Club vice president John Bennett from Murwillumbah said he expected a large number of entries for the event this year being held this Saturday (September 11) at Tweed Heads Civic Centre from 8.30am-
car driven into the shopping centre ing to the motorist, the policeman carpark around midday by Senior approached him and the two women Constable John Mulhearn. and accused him of ‘being a motor mouth,’ putting his face ‘right in front Unnecessary siren of mine, demanding my name and He had called out to the constable, address’. He refused, saying he had not brotelling him the siren, used to pull over a car already entering the car park, ken the law and was then told to acwas unnecessary. He said the officer company the officer to the front of told him it had nothing to do with the police car, again refusing to do so. Morrissey said he had called the ofhim and to ‘shut his mouth’. Morrissey claimed that after talk- ficer a ‘smart arse’ after the officer had
3pm. Entry is only $2 for adults and children are allowed in for free. As well as the professionally judged flower and plant show, the expo will feature workshops on how to care for and pot succulents, cliveas, bromeliads, orchids, begonias and African violets. It will also include plant sales, children and adult photography classes, raffles, lucky door prizes and refreshments. For more information call Freda on 07 5524 1357 or Rewa Jarman on 07 5590 9448.
made ‘some smug remark’ to him. The officer then told him he would be arrested for verbally abusing a police officer.
Wife knocked over Morrissey said the officer had ‘grabbed’ him first to arrest him, but in the process his wife was knocked over. When Morrissey repeatedly tried to help her up, he said the of-
ABN 82 087 650 682
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