Dalby Queensland police officer under investigation after ‘headbutting a teenage boy’

An off-duty police officer is under investigation by his own colleagues after he appeared to headbutt a teen who taunted him: ‘You’re nothing without your badge’. 

A 14-year-old Aboriginal teenager was allegedly attacked by the officer outside of a Dalby McDonald’s restaurant in North Queensland on Sunday evening, after a group of five teenagers mocked and insulted him. 

The officer, a constable, is seen in a video recorded by one of the teens approaching them and demanding to know who had just said something insulting to him.

After tensions flared, the officer proceeded to warn the teens to walk away before headbutting a 14-year-old Aboriginal teenager

‘Hey? Which one of you said that?,’ the officer says, before adding: ‘What badge have I got right now?’

‘Punch me, punch me – you’re a pig,’ one teen replies.

Another in the group, wearing a blue jacket, repeatedly asks the officer to walk away. 

The off-duty cop then tells them that they have until the count of three before things turn physical. 

‘I’ll give you three seconds to walk away or I headbutt you,’ the officer says. ‘Three… Two… One…’

Before the headbutt is laid, an unknown teen can be heard repeating the the officer is a ‘pig’ and ‘nothing without the badge’.

Moments later the officer walks within inches of the 14-year-old and appears to headbutt him – sparking gasps from onlookers. 

The off-duty cop gave the group to the count of three before he said he would headbutt them, which he proceeded to do 

Police Commissioner Katrina Carroll said that the officer in question has been stood down while an internal investigation is undertaken

The teen admitted to taunting the officer, but claims the adult should have known better.

‘I did provoke it a bit, but in the end he’s a police officer and he’s supposed to be the bigger person in situations,’ the teen told 7News.

‘As he hit me, a kind of like a flash happened in my eyes, and I kind of just leaned over holding my teeth as blood was coming out my mouth because he had busted my lip in like three places.

‘I feel as though he has targeted me because of my colour, because of the colour of my skin.’

The video is now central to an internal police Ethical Standards Command investigation into the off-duty cop’s actions that evening. 

Ms Carroll said that the internal review will decide ‘whether that officer should be stood down or suspended’.

‘I have not seen what happened prior to that but on what I have seen, those actions are completely inappropriate,’ she said. Ms Carroll also said that it was completely inappropriate for any police officer, whether off-duty or not, to ever physically assault someone.

The investigation continues.