I couldn't believe my ears when I heard this on the news... I actually saw the video of the dude flying through the air and headbutting the policeman who was trying to break up a brawl outside the Old Bailey.

Jury finds McLeods not guilty of police assault

"A District Court jury has found Currambine Plasterer Barry McLeod and his father Robert McLeod not guilty of all charges laid against them regarding assault allegations that left Const. Matthew Butcher with severe head injuries after a brawl outside a popular Joondalup tavern."

http://www.thewest.com.au/default.as...ntentID=129770

Hmmmm, my interpretation of this then would be that the courts are saying it IS ok to take the law into your own hands.

I couldn't believe this.

I'm also struck by the paradox: he was innocent of all charges apart from threatening to kill the person who filmed it...!

Doesn't this suggest something? - i.e. he felt the need to threaten someone with evidence? Pourquoi?

I've just seen the video on the news....

How THAT isn't unreasonable force I don't know!

:curse: Almost makes you wish they would bring back the good old days when the cops could kick the living crap out of people like this and get away with it.

bizarre... and what message is it sending out to other thugs?

I could not believe this either. I have followed this case and would have bet money they would go down even if only for a short time.

We need to bear in mind that the verdict was chosen by a representative selection of the general public i.e. A JURY. So no matter what any of us think, the legal process has been carried out. All anyone who opposes the decision can hope for is a successfull appeal.

Yep very true but....
the jury will be strongly influenced by strongly argued defence barristers, poorly argued prosecutors and summing up by the judge (would be interested to hear that).

Also I am 99% sure a not guilty verdict cannot be appealed. England definitely not and as Australian Law is UK based I would have thought the same.

I wonder what the exact verdict of the jury was, i.e. hung, no majority etc.

Absolutely disgusting verdict. This is the type of message all the scum bags out there are loving.
Tough on crime against law enforcement officers! What a joke.
The Judge should be ashamed.
This family are well know for their arrogance. The day of the offence one of them had been threatening his inlaws and was taken in for questioning and was obviously fired up before he went to the Old Bailey . I feel sorry for the neighbours of this family because no doubt they are partying big time in Currumbine tonight.
It won't be the last we hear of this (Scottish Scum Family) and before anyone gets on their high horse i would say the same if they were ENGLISH
:curse::curse:

Why poorly argued prosecutors? They have plenty of time to prepare a case, and can ask for a delay if they need it.

Agree completely, not just crime against police but also lack of law enforcement against Jo Blogs.

Oh true enough and not necessarily the case here (not knowing the full transcript). The point I was making after you pointed out this was a jury decision, was that jurors, irrespective if the facts, can be influenced by the team which argues and bluffs better than the others. The judge however should clear any misdirection up during summing up.

Just saw the footage myself on the news. Shocking beyond belief. Who would want to be a policeman?

It's absolutely abhorrent that these thugs are getting off without charge. There's been talk in the past few months where any assault on a police officer has a mandatory jail sentence. Fat lot of good that will do if the jury finds them not guilty.

The police should go on strike ... if the law doesn't protect them, who is going to protect the community?

And shame on the defence lawyers for managing to pull the wool over the eyes of the jury.

The defence lawyers are scum also, getting paid huge sums to defend the obviously guilty, I wonder how they can sleep at night, But they are ok they have the scum on their defence and no doubt be partying with them tonight with a large sum in their bank accounts.
I hope Scott Mcleod gets whats coming to him tomorrow as the only thing any of them were found guilty of was threatening to "KILL" the person who was filming the whole thing on his phone But I doubt it:curse:

Can I urge anyone who cares about this to join the following group of Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/gr...0398158&ref=nf