A Sydney teenager who was shot by police after he suffered a violent home invasion has had a $500,000 compensation order overturned by the court of appeals, and is now facing the daunting prospect of paying NSW Police’s legal fees.
In late September 2011, Justin McMaster, then aged 19, awoke to hear his sister screaming, after two knife-wielding men broke into their home in Colydon, in the western suburbs.
Soon after, he ran from the house, brandishing a metal rod from a set of blinds, in an attempt to chase the attackers away; believing him to be one of the home invaders, however, Constable John Fanning shot McMaster in the stomach.
Somehow, things managed to get worse from there, as this week, a $512,450 civil claim awarded to McMaster in 2013 has been reversed on appeal, with a panel of three judges finding that NSW police were not liable for the shooting.
In overturning the damages order, Justice Anthony Meagher said that Fanning was acting in support of his colleague, Constable Natasha Kleinman, believing her to be under threat.
Per Fairfax reports, Meagher said:
“This was not a case of a simple assault being resisted by use of a firearm. The threat to Constable Kleinman was believed to be serious injury or worse. Constable Fanning waited until the last moment. He did not see any indication that Constable Kleinman was going to use her Taser. At that point, he had no alternative course of action available to prevent the threat to Constable Kleinman, which he reasonably believed the man presented.”
In addition to having his compensation overturned (and getting shot, obvs), McMaster is now potentially facing one hell of a bill.
The panel declared that he and his sisters, who were also awarded compensation after seeing him shot, must pay NSW Police’s legal fees for the original hearing and the appeal, an amount that could run to the tens of thousands.
The clear message here is try not to get mistakenly shot by police, or you could end up seriously out of pocket.
via Fairfax
