Two former New South Wales police officers have had their prison sentences reduced after an appeal over the brutal assault of a mentally ill woman during a welfare check in Sydney’s west.
Nathan Black, 30, and Timothy John Trautsch, 31, were jailed for more than five years after attacking the 48-year-old woman in January 2023. Both have since been dismissed by the NSW Police Force.
The senior constable and constable had been called to check on the woman, who was naked and experiencing a psychotic episode. Instead, they repeatedly kicked and stomped her and used capsicum spray, causing severe pain to her open wounds and genitals.
The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal upheld their challenge on Monday, finding errors in the way the sentencing judge assessed aggravating factors in the assault offences.
The appeal judges ruled that the finding of “gratuitous cruelty” did not assist the assessment of the offences’ objective seriousness. They said the conclusion that there had been “needless and intentional violence” did not, by itself, justify that finding.
However, the court stressed that the ruling concerned the application of sentencing principles rather than the nature of the confrontation.
“There is no doubt that the brutal assault of the victim was not only cruel but also, in the sense of being unnecessary, gratuitous,” the judges said.
They found it was open to the sentencing judge to conclude that using capsicum spray to secure the vulnerable woman’s compliance had been gratuitously cruel. But they ruled he had not clearly defined the relationship between an alleged breach of trust and breach of authority before treating both as aggravating factors.
The former officers argued they had faced a risk of physical harm from the woman, citing threats that she would kill them. The judges rejected that submission, describing it as “surprising” given her “plainly delusional” state and smaller physical stature.
“There was, to put it bluntly, a shocking lack of humanity displayed towards the victim,” they wrote.
Both men were found to be remorseful, while threats in custody that had left them “extremely fearful” were also taken into account.
Trautsch’s sentence was reduced to three years, with a minimum of two years in custody before he becomes eligible for parole in August 2027.
Black’s sentence was cut to three years and two months, with parole eligibility in September 2027. He received a slightly longer term after sending footage of the attack to a workmate.
