A former big dog in Victoria’s police ranks has told a court that he made racist and vulgar online posts to cope with stress.
The Supreme Court heard from former assistant police commissioner Brett Guerin on Thursday. Guerin quit his job last year after being linked to multiple racist YouTube comments, and the man who was once the head of Victoria Police’s ethical standards body was in court again to give evidence in a defamation trial.
Guerin used the pseudonym “Vernon Demerest” when posting online, which he claims was a character that was a “pretentious bigot.”
A 2013 post, which Guerin described as a “deal breaker” for his career, said: “I’m afraid this is what happens when the lash is abolished. The jigaboo runs riot and out of control. The boo needs the lash. The boo wants the lash. Deep deep down, the boo knows the lash provides the governance and stability”.
Repeatedly cross-examined on Thursday, Guerin reportedly told the six-person jury the character had been based off of a collection of novels by Bernard Cornwell, and said the last five years of his career were particularly stressful.
“I don’t expect violins playing, a lot of people have stressful jobs,” he said.
I was assistant commissioner of Professional Standards having to make very serious decisions about the futures of other police officers often with competing interests. I was trying to reform the system to make it less punitive, at the same time I was under pressure from other areas to be more punitive.
Other posts made by Guerin included claims that the Australian national anthem must “always be sung by a male” in a baritone and accompanied by a band.
The former top cop denied the comments were consistent with his personal views.
Guerin’s testimony comes in the middle of a defamation trial brought forward by nightclub owner Martha Tsamis, who claims the reputation of her club was ruined when Guerin described it as a “honeypot” for drug dealers in 2014 interviews with media.
The trial resumes on Monday.
