Dehumanising Police Assault of Mentally Ill Woman Highlights Desperate Need for Reform

Two New South Wales police officers recently pleaded guilty to several assault charges as well as unauthorised use of a prohibited weapon for brutalising a naked 48-year old mentally ill woman who was in the midst of a mental health episode, punching, kicking and stomping on her, spraying her on six separate occasions with capsicum spray – including directly to her face and genitals – and laughing at and mocking her, as well as bragging to one another by stating that “we caved her in”.

One of the officers additionally pled guilty to two counts of publishing protected information for sending a 17-second video he filmed of part of the assault on his mobile telephone, following the video with captions including “She was fucked the whole body-worn is so good shows her being fucked”.

The incident

28-year old senior constable Nathan Black and 30-year old constable Timothy John Trautsch were in plain clothes when they were called to make a welfare check on a 48-year old schizophrenic woman who was sitting naked under a tree at a cul-de-sac in Emu Plains, Western Sydney on 22 January 2023. 

Paramedics were already in attendance when the officers arrived.

The woman refused to enter the ambulance, and swore and lashed out at the officers with her arms as the men struggled to handcuff her.

Body worn camera footage shows the officers then throwing the woman to the ground, kicking her twice to the head, dragging her by her hair and punching her several times.

The video also shows the officers the woman six times with OC (capsicum) spray, including directly to her face and genitals at close range.

The woman is heard praying and pleading throughout the assault, stating among other things, “Please. I’m strong, God, but not without you, God”, “God protect me” and “God, please. I’m sorry I didn’t listen. I’m sorry, God”.

The men are heard laughing and demeaning the woman, stating phrases such as “Wash your stinky arse” before one of them warns, “That’s enough, there could be cameras”.

Attending nurses called police to raise concerns about the conduct of the officers, and the matter was referred to the Professional Standards Command of the New South Wales Police Force, who launched an investigation which led to criminal charges being brought.

The charges

The officers ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, three counts of common assault and one count of unauthorised use of a prohibited weapon (which relates to the illegal use of capsicum spray). 

Officer Black additionally pleaded to two counts of intentionally publishing protected information.

The sentencing hearing

Video footage from the incident was played during sentencing proceedings in Penrith District Court on Thursday, 10 July 2025 and Crown Prosecutor Nicholas Marney commenced his submissions, highlighting the gross use of excessive force, the degrading conduct of the officers towards the woman despite being informed of her mental illness and their conduct after the incident, illegally sending a clip to a colleague and gloating of their treatment of the woman.

The remainder of the hearing is scheduled for today.

The officers have since ‘left the police force’ and the woman they brutalised has since died, although there is no direct evidence it was a result of her treatment at the hands of the offending officers.

Desperate need for reform

The brutality of the dehumanising assault against the vulnerable woman and brazenness of recording and sending a gloating video of the appalling conduct to a colleague, raises concerns this may not have been the pair’s first-time brutalising members of the public, as well as concerns about the culture of brutality and acceptance of such conduct in the police force more generally.

Indeed, there is an argument the incident may never have come to light if paramedics at the scene had not made a complaint, and it is also important to note there have been many incidents in which body camera footage has gone ‘missing’ or police have been found to have deleted it. 

In fact, police in New South Wales are free to turn their body worn cameras on and off as they please – there is no rule requiring them to activate their cameras during encounters with the public, despite recommendations by the police watchdog to make activation compulsory during the exercise of police powers.

There are also concerns about the fact that in New South Wales, police are left to investigate themselves, with the Professional Standards Command being a branch of the police force comprised of current and former police officers. This is despite years of recommendations for the establishment of an independent police oversight body. The problem of inadequate oversight and accountability is compounded by the fact that the state’s police watchdog, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC), is chronically underfunded and underpowered – with resources to only investigate around 2% of complaints – and has no power to discipline police officers let alone bring criminal charge against officer.

The latest incident shines a light on the desperate need for systemic and legal reform in the areas of transparency, accountability and culture in New South Wales policing.