Cops plead not guilty in Brazilian student taser death

Four police officers charged with assault after the death of Brazilian student Roberto Curti in a violent Sydney arrest have pleaded not guilty in court.

Mr Curti, 21, died in March 2012 after he was chased by a group of 11 officers and tasered nine times on suspicion of conducting an armed robbery.

The fatal pursuit started when Mr Curti reached over the counter of a Sydney CBD convenience store and stole two packets of biscuits.

Agitated and in a LSD-induced psychotic state, the 21-year-old was spotted walking down Pitt Street and was chased by police.

Seven officers pinned him to the ground and tasered him repeatedly in an arrested labelled “thuggish” by a NSW coroner.

Three cans of 'capsicum' spray, two sets of handcuffs and a police baton were used in the brutal arrest, an inquest heard last October.

A Police Integrity Commission investigation saw two officers, Senior Constables Eric Lim and Damien Ralph, charged with common assault and another two, Senior Constable Scott Edmondson and Constable Daniel Barling, charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

All four this morning pleaded not guilty to the charges in Downing Centre Local Court.

The case will return to court on March 25 but the officers will not be required to attend.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Author: Matthew Henry. Approving editor: Simon Black