A former detective does not recall biting and spitting on police officers before two officers allegedly assaulted her in a Ballarat police cell.
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And Yvonne Berry, who worked with Victoria Police professional and ethical standards unit months before the incident, told a jury she faked an epileptic fit in the cell to test the response of police officers.
Ms Berry was cross-examined at the County Court in Ballarat on Friday in relation to the alleged assaults against her at the Ballarat Police Station in the early hours of January 15 in 2015.
Leading Senior Constable Nicole Munro, 48, is charged with one count of assault, while Senior Constable Steven Repac, 29, is charged with five counts of assault.
Barrister Anne Hassan, for Munro, put to Ms Berry she lied to police officers when she told them she was a lawyer and had epilepsy and diabetes.
Ms Berry agreed she lied saying she “was trying to test what they would do if I am in the cell. There is more (CCTV) footage of me having a fit and they did nothing”.
“I don’t get any assistance. I just get abused,” Ms Berry said.
Ms Hassan suggested Ms Berry was extremely aggressive towards police officers in the lead up to the alleged assaults and called them inappropriate names.
“You were spitting and biting,” Ms Hassan said to which Ms Berry replied, “I don’t recall that”, and “I would not bite or spit (on) anyone”.
Ms Berry told the jury she was cold and thirsty in the cell and all she wanted was a blanket and a drink of water.
CCTV footage played to the jury shows Ms Berry trying to push past police officers each time they opened her cell door.
At one point, Ms Berry takes an officer’s lanyard and walks down a hallway to a storage room before she is sprayed with capsicum spray.
An officer strip-searched a handcuffed Ms Berry in the cell looking for the lanyard before footage shows Repac and Munro kicking her.
Ms Hassan put to Ms Berry, a bipolar sufferer who was drunk at the time of the incident, she had no memory of the alleged assaults because she did not mention it in her evidence of chief.
“I do have memory of it. I wasn’t asked the questions,” Ms Berry said.
Barrister Geoffrey Steward, for Repac, suggested Ms Berry was in a lying mood the night of the incident, to which she disagreed.
He suggested Ms Berry remain in the cell for the required four hours but she said she did not want to be sprayed.
“I don’t know why they kept me in the end. Sixteen hours is outrageous,” Ms Berry said.
Mr Steward said Ms Berry would not have been sprayed if she did not assault the police members, to which she replied, “I didn’t assault them”.
“Someone decided to give me a pummelling … I work in internal affairs,” she said.
Mr Steward will continue cross-examining Ms Berry on Monday.
Repac and Munro have pleaded not guilty to their charges. The trial is being held before Judge Paul Lacava.
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