A father-of-two was left bloodied and broken after heavily-armed police stormed into his unit to arrest him on Christmas Eve.
Stephen John Mort, 43, claimed the Tactical Response Group squad repeatedly punched him and cut off his breathing as he lay on the lounge room floor.
‘Seven or eight of them grabbed me and beat the s**t out of me while yelling at me to stop resisting even though I wasn’t,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
NSW Police charged him with drug supply and assaulting three officers after finding hundreds of grams of marijuana in his Sydney flat.
Stephen John Mort, 43, was left bloodied and broken after heavily-armed police stormed into his unit to arrest him on Christmas Eve
He claimed the Tactical Response Group squad repeatedly punched him and cut off his breathing as he lay on the lounge room floor
However, Mort claimed the drugs were for personal use, he didn’t assault anyone, and allegations that he’s a drug dealer were by a mentally unstable former friend.
Mort said he was awoken by banging on his door about 7am on Tuesday and, without knowing who it was, tried to ditch his weed stash before opening it.
He grabbed an esky containing marijuana and jumped out a window on to an awning, only to be spotted by police on the road below.
The window cleaner said he asked if they were police and was told they had a search warrant for his Cronulla home and to go back inside.
Mort said he dumped the esky and climbed back through the window to find police had bashed down his door and swarmed inside.
‘I was coming through to face the music with my arms above my head, I only moved them to part the blinds,’ he said.
‘They pushed my head into the ground, I was getting punched in the face from the left and the right and my back and ribs all at the same time.’
Mort suffered cuts on legs – some from corner of his coffee table – a broken toe, broken nose, swollen eye, and a potentially fractured rib
Cuts to Mort’s legs, many of which needed stitches, he said were consistent with being bashed against his coffee table
Mort suffered cuts on legs – some from corner of his coffee table – a broken toe, broken nose, swollen eye, and a potentially fractured rib.
‘I tried to relax and they pulled my arms into painful positions,’ he said.
‘They only eased up when I called out that I wasn’t resisting, couldn’t breathe, and was asthmatic.
‘But then as they pulled me up they pushed my head into the TV, broke the screen and split my forehead open.
‘I heard one of them say “now you need a new TV for Christmas”.’
TRG officers then sat him down on the couch, handcuffed, and left detectives to search the unit.
According to police facts, they found 662.7g of cannabis plant, scales, and box of resealable bags in the esky.
Elsewhere in the unit was $1,540 in cash and 21 cannabis seeds.
Mort did not deny those items were found, but said the 662.7g of cannabis included the leaf and stem and would only amount to about 200g of actually usable marijuana.
‘All of it is for personal use, there’s nothing drug related on my record. I buy in bulk so it’s cheaper,’ he claimed.
Mort said huge holes in his door meant he was unable to lock it and he was speaking to a lawyer about making an excessive force complaint
Mort said he was awoken by banging on his door about 7am on Tuesday and didn’t know who it was
The amount found was classified as a non-indictable offence, which would be dealt with in a local court with a maximum penalty of two years jail and an $11,000 fine.
Police facts said Sutherland detectives had been investigating him for drug supply in late November into December.
Mort said before that time he had an altercation with a female friend who he’d been trying to help but she had mental and substance abuse issues.
He claimed she had a meltdown and bit him in the face causing the police to be called to his flat and she was arrested.
He claimed an officer at the scene that day told him she had told them he was her drug dealer.
Mort believes the investigation as sparked by false claims the woman made about him during questioning following her arrest.
Police facts accused Mort of violently resisting arrest and striking multiple officers, leaving them no choice but to roughly restrain him.
‘The accused swung his arms around which connected with the left side of the officer’s neck,’ the facts read.
Once he was on the ground, police said he kept trying to reach out to the corner of the TV cabinet.
‘Police, fearing there was a weapon near the location due to scissors and a small sword on the wall, continued to attempt to restrain him,’ the facts read.
Mort said as the police pulled him up they pushed his head into the TV, broke the screen and split his forehead open. ‘I heard one of them say “now you need a new TV for Christmas”.’
A bloodstain on the carpet his his lounge room where he was dragged to the ground
Police said he punched another officer in the helmet and grabbed him on the upper arm, then kicked another in the shin.
Mort said the sword was decoration, the scissors fell onto the floor in commotion, and he was moving towards the cabinet because it was near a window.
‘I’m asthmatic so with several 80-85kg men on top of me I could not breathe. I was trying to claw my way across floor to a window to to get some air,’ he said.
‘There was no excuse for what they did, I wasn’t resisting, I didn’t throw any punches and if anyone got kicked while I was on the ground it was by accident.’
Mort said huge holes in his door meant he was unable to lock it and he was speaking to a lawyer about making an excessive force complaint.
He claimed police also roughed up his next door neighbour but not as badly as he opened the door to them.
‘What if that had been an old lady’s house or someone with young kids?’ he said.
Mort will face court on January 16 charged with drug supply, two counts of drug possession, dealing with the proceeds of crime, resisting arrest, and three counts of assaulting police.