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Mark Hinchliffe·
NewsMotorbike news
··3 Comments·2 min read

Ex-cop faces jail over hitting rider

ex-Cop faces hearing over throwing object at rider

A NSW court has once again adjourned a hearing over the matter of a police officer throwing an object and hitting a motorcycle rider who then crashed.

Video of the incident in November 2015 went viral but has now been deleted from YouTube.

However, the incident is still available in this video from Channel 7.

Some 22 months after then Senior Constable Brett Rossiter was seen to throw an object – possibly a clipboard – at the rider, the matter has today been adjourned in the Sutherland Local Court.

It will now be heard in the Downing Centre District Court, Sydney, on November 4 at 10am.

The video of the incident shows police performing random breath tests on Hannahs Road at Narwee on Friday November 6, 2015.

When rider Paul Cork fails to stop, Rossiter is shown running on to the road, waving his right arm before an object flies from his grasp, hitting the rider.

Paul has already faced court, admitting he was affected by marijuana, was unlicensed and didn’t want to go to jail.

Paul Cork hitting - Brett Rossiter throwing object NBSW police
Paul Cork (Photo Channel 7)

His licence was suspended for two years, but he says he will get a motorcycle licence when his suspension ends.

“I’ll do it all the proper way this time so I will stay out of trouble,” he says.

Paul claims the object ended up hitting his helmet visor which was dislodged, causing him to crash his bike.

“He could have killed me and could have killed a lot of people around me,” he says.

See also

Rossiter had been in the NSW Police for 16 years, but is no longer an officer.

Brett Rossiter hitting charge - NSW police
Former officer Brett Rossiter

He was charged with throwing an object at a rider and the court matter has now been adjourned four times.

The charge of “intentionally throw object at vehicle / vessel – risk safety” has a maximum penalty of imprisonment for five years under the NSW Crimes Act.

Police say the rider was not being chased when he failed to stop at the RBT checkpoint, but a patrol car did then give a short pursuit before Paul crashed.

Sutherland Local Court said Rossiter also faced two other charges today, but said they could not release the nature of the charges over the phone.

However, they did say Rossiter entered pleas of not guilty to all charges. He was acquitted on the second charge, but convicted on the third, copping an undisclosed good behaviour bond and fine.

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Mark Hinchliffe
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3 Comments

  1. Police often forget they are supposed to be for public safety reasons not to endanger public safety. On four or more occasions I’ve had police do stupid things in front of me at RBT’s or other operations . At one RBT a really stupid kid came running at me with a light baton and struck me on the helmet with it when I had words with his supervisor as to his idiocy they accused me of speeding Something that was literally impossible at the time as the bike had blown an engine and was barely running. And why did the kid hit me on the helmet ? Because instead of just flagging me down he chose to run out in front of me causing me to take evasive action to avoid hitting him and the cars that were pulling out from the RBT so I didn’t notice he was trying to flag me down from the middle lane of a busy three lane road

  2. Generally speaking I’m pro-police: I think they do a pretty decent job under often difficult circumstances. I also have very little time for drug-affected idiots riding or driving unlicenced because they are a bloody menace to everyone else on the road – especially when they do the bolt. But Sutherland police have the reputation of running the Shire as their own personal fiefdom, so the actions of this bloke do not surprise me. One off-duty Shire copper took a dislike to my lane filtering once, pulled alongside me in a bus only lane in his Toyota Yaris, shoved his warrant card right into my face and threatened me in the most obnoxious way with Skye’s Law. I’m afraid that that kind of behaviour towards a law-abiding citizen, doing nothing wrong, does absolutely nothing for the reputation of the NSW police.

  3. So i suppose police will now only stop the good people who are compliant. Criminals who don’t play the game and pull over get off scott free it seems. Police can’t pursue, swear or discipline kids any more. A society who makes war on its police had better make friends with its criminals.

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