Sergeant hit protestor to 'protect officers'

A police sergeant who is on trial for assaulting a woman at the G20 protests last year has said he hit her with his baton to protect his fellow officers.

Sgt Delroy or "Tony" Smellie said that he perceived her as a threat, and believed she could have a weapon in each hand.

Animal rights protestor Nicky Fisher was carrying a carton of orange juice and a mobile phone.

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Seems as though the officer may have to pay for that slight of hand on the peaceful protestor. Maybe he will get put in jail with some of the people he's put away in the past, wouldn't that be fun!

This might be what you have to look forward to in the next few weeks America...

news.bbc.co.uk...

Yup. No guns in the surfs hands, they feel they can do anything. Russians were told to shoot or hit cops abusing citizens. I bet them cops think twice before they do that stuff over there. Russia Today

Yeah the baton strike was uncalled for...not really sure how he is going to justify that. My question is, does she not smack the officer, or strike the officer in the back, and thats why she gets hit in the face to start the whole incident?

Watching the video it sounds like she makes contact with him and that hit is what gets his attention and makes him backhand her. It doesn't excuse the baton strike, but it does void the "peaceful" part of this protest.

reply to post by NibiruWarrior


In no way do I condone what happened and remember this incident very well. If my memory serves me correctly, the police were also instrumental in the death of a newspaper salesman who died shortly after an altercation with them. My point is that this is the result of emotions gone wild on the part of the police. In reality, the office in question lost it in the moment and probably wasn't out to intentionally inflict harm. I think questions over training should be raised.

However, police brutality exists, but in this case I think adrenaline mixed the chemistry in the officer's mind to a point where he didn't really know what he was doing.

I was there that day (and night) and i saw lots and lots of these god damn pigs acting violently...

and THEN when the people reacted in outrage , they got hurt, tripped over, hit with shields, kettled in, punched, kicked and crushed.

Absolute disgrace.

No wonder nobody respects the law these days, when you have these bastards in uniform acting like they are somehow above everyone else.

Totally agree, it is bad news, they should take silly little pushes like that when they are there in numbers and not think they are above the public when it comes to uplohding peace. They should be trained better to handle these types of situations. As if the woman had a weapon in each hand, what a disgrace, she looked like a kid compared to him in size, and what he did only inflamed the situation.

reply to post by rcwj1975


I honestly can't tell if she does or doesn't. The vid does not get what her hands were doing before he backhands her. I can see movement, but I can't see if she touched him or not.

In any event, going by the time clock on the vid she's in front of him for about 4-5 seconds with him looking at her before he pulls out the baton and whacks her. So, as you say - that might be hard to justify.



[edit on 25-3-2010 by Frogs]

From many accounts this officer has been referred to as a good officer but in the same token it looked to me that he got caught up in the heat of the event and this tiny woman in surging forward towards this giant of a man somehow gave this giant cause and authority to give her a back handed slap across the face? At his trial he has referred to the back handed slap as a “clearing move”.

I call a certain bovine faecal swearword on this excuse and if this is a "good officer" then we are in serious trouble.

Right after that slap the attentions of those around this assaulted woman became focused on this officer and all of a sudden he feels threatened? What was he thinking was going to happen when a large framed man who had to have been trained in crowd psychology beats a woman and this act is witnessed by those in the crowd around her? Did he think they would cheer and applaud or stand back in fear and give him the road? I tend to think he hoped the latter hence the acts of violence on his part.

Bear in mind that this woman was small and though vocal was not exactly beating this officers face in with an iron bar so for this officer to feel threatened by the carton of juice in her hands tells me that this officer is either blind or he is a liar and indicates to me that he will say anything to get himself off the media hook he finds himself impaled upon. I am not saying that a small woman being very vocal and gesticulating while giving forth the evil eye is not going to make even a large man feel weak at the knees but a reason to beat her? That is a disgraceful act that says more about this man psychology than the woman’s ranting and raving says about hers.

It is his actions not the woman’s that have forced him to face his peers in the dock and it is his actions - the double blows to the back of the legs - that tells me a story of a man who might live a life of actions speaks louder than words and that when under pressure he succumbs to the very same mob rule he thought he was trying to ward off.

No my friends I do not believe these are the actions of a decent police officer or even a decent human being in my view as this sad excuse for a man, this officer has crossed the line and he did in in full view of the world.

By assaulting this woman in the way he did this act seems to indicate accurately (because this was not a low ranker) that the men in blue do not and have never served the people of Britain and this officer by letting vent to his more base of emotions must be made an example of because he is a sergeant and by carrying that rank he has to be of an even more exemplary character in mind and action than those under him.

Therefore his example should be clear to all those others that wear his uniform that such actions are simply not acceptable and will never be considered the proper and honourable actions of a person that is supposed to be respected as the best in society. I see no best of society I just see a snarling thug in a uniform hell bent on inflicting some pain. Unfortunately for him he inflicted pain onto a small framed woman and what is worse for him, he failed to control his violence even when cameras clicked and caught him full in the act of beating her with the baton.

Prosecute him, sack him and make sure he is not able to work in a position of authority ever again because he and his type are what make society the sick society it is where people learn from such actions and thus think that problems can be resolved with the swing of a weapon or a fist.

I saw this video the moment it hit the mainstream and than as now my opinion of the officer has not changed and I hope that the public outcry over his actions gives him pause for thought the very next time he finds himself locking eyes with his reflection the next time he shaves. I doubt it however he looks lost to the notion of respect for those not in uniform – the “them and us” attitude that will bring critical mass to society at some point in the future, here’s hoping.










[edit on 25-3-2010 by SmokeJaguar67]