There was no evidence the assault occurred as had been described in court, the board found Credit:Paul Rovere One officer admitted he "cut-and-pasted" words in his statement which described the incident from the statement of another officer. The searing findings of the board raise questions about internal investigations within the force, and may lead to Victoria Police launching a challenge to the decision in the Supreme Court next year. In 2014, Jay, who was in the care of the Department of Health and Human Services, was arrested on suspicion of burglary. He behaved wildly while he was alone in the interview room, including breaking legs off a table, and launching flying kicks at the door, before a senior constable with 17 years' experience entered.

Soon after, during a 34-second window, the incident later used to justify the officer's dismissal occurred. While statements about the incident had discrepancies, the board found that police alleged the officer struck Jay, forcing him to the floor, before putting his knee in Jay's back while he lay on the floor, pulling him by the hair, punching him to the right side of the face, and then putting him in a headlock before leaving him crying in the corner. The officer claimed he properly restrained Jay, using police techniques known as a clearance strike and three-point hold that are included in the Operational Safety and Tactics Training manual, but the incident was soon subject to an internal investigation. Police charged the officer with unlawful assault, and a magistrate found him guilty in 2015. He was not convicted, but was put on an 18-month good behaviour bond, ordered to donate $1800 and complete anger management training. He was dismissed from the force in July this year.

The Age has decided not to name the senior constable, a father of six who has battled mental illness since the incident that he says "destroyed his life". The board published decisions in September and late last month in relation to the dismissal. "It is crucial for any observer of this matter to understand that the allegations originally made...in the laying and prosecuting the assault charge (knocking Jay to the ground, hair-pulling, headlock, punch to the face) simply did not occur," board president Andrea Lester found. "There is only one account presented...which is a) entirely consistent with the CCTV footage; and b) which has been internally consistent. That is the account presented by the [officer]...his accounts are factual, not exaggerated and not self-serving. "In contrast, the board notes with deep concern the descriptions used in the material used by Victoria Police to prosecute and dismiss the applicant are inconsistent with the CCTV evidence."

When police were asked to explain the inconsistencies in their statements, the board was told it was "not uncommon" for officers to provide rough summaries of the allegations as it would "all come out" during court. "The board would be concerned if such a lack of care was taken in making serious criminal allegations towards any member of the public," Ms Lester found. Victoria Police defended the decision to dismiss the officer - despite agreeing during a board hearing that the CCTV footage did not support the evidence used in the criminal prosecution - in part because of the impact his behaviour had on perceptions of the force. It argued that overturning the decision in circumstances where an unlawful assault had been found proven would be perceived as a "green light" for officers to be violent towards youths, and as a sign Victoria Police did not support the rights of youths to engage with them without fear of brutality. Liana Buchanan, Victoria's Principal Commissioner for Children and Young People, also gave evidence that community confidence in police would be eroded if the officer was reinstated, and said that after reviewing the CCTV she found the officer's behaviour unduly aggressive.

Victoria Police also argued that under the act governing the review process it did not have to reinstate an officer after the board made an order to set aside a dismissal - a submission rejected by the board. The officer is on a temporary pension because of a depressive illness, and Ms Lester found that while he wished to return to the force, that may be unlikely because of his condition. He had previously been dismissed from the force and reinstated more than 17 years ago for an incident of an entirely different nature, she found. It is the second time this year the board has been asked to review a decision relating to a police assault on a boy in DHHS care. In September, The Age reported on the case of Jack*, a 15-year-old who was in handcuffs when he was punched in the ribs by a police officer outside the Melbourne group home where he lived. That officer, Senior Constable John Whichello, did not have his dismissal overturned.

Victoria Police is in the midst of overhauling its internal complaints process, and further changes may also be made to how police are investigated after a Victorian parliamentary committee inquiring into the external oversight of police corruption and misconduct delivers its findings in mid-2018.