Choke hold officer named

A police officer sacked for using excessive force when ejecting a woman from a nightclub can be named.

Former senior constable Gary Burrowes denied applying a choke hold on a woman who removed his hat at Boogie Nights in Christchurch in 2010. He was dismissed in October 2011 after an investigation and his legal bid to return to the police was rejected by the Employment Court in May. The court awarded him compensation for lost earnings and superannuation.

Justice Bruce Corkill ruled that name suppression for Burrowes, who joined the police in 1982, should be lifted.

Burrowes had argued the suppression should be upheld due to his past and potential future involvement in a specialist police unit. Justice Corkill rejected this argument, stating that Burrowes had not returned to police work and had not been in the force for more than five years. He also rejected claims that lifting suppression would aggravate an existing medical condition.

Burrowes was in a team policing unit when the incident involving the woman occurred in May 2010. She removed his hat as he was leaving the nightclub with another officer and two members of the Military Police.

The woman, who has not been named, said she was placed in a choke hold that cut her air supply before being dragged to the entrance of the premises and pushed repeatedly into a wall.

She laid a complaint with the Independent Police Conduct Authority but said she did not want the officer to lose his job.

Burrowes said he used a ‘‘tame’’ technique that was ‘‘particularly useful for small drunk females’’ – not a choke hold or headlock.

Burrowes’ counsel, Andrew Shaw, said his client had applied for ‘‘significant’’ legal costs against the police in relation to the Employment Court case.