A 51-year-old former Senior Constable has been sentenced to 15 months jail, suspended after serving five months, for his part in the assault of a 25-year-old woman at the Loganholme Police station in 2004.
Craig Stuart Ablitt pleaded guilty in the Beenleigh District Court on Monday to being an accessory after the fact to assault occasioning bodily harm of a woman in a holding cell on April 5, 2004.
Ablitt had entered a plea of not guilty at a committal hearing on 30 July 2007 to the more serious charges of perjury before a CMC investigative hearing on 23 June 2005.
He also pleaded not guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice by turning off a video recording of the assault and giving it to fellow-officer Justin Anthony Burkett.
Burkett was sentenced last August to three years' jail - suspended after nine months – after he pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm, four charges of perjury and two counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
35-year-old Burkett admitted assaulting Dulcie Isobelle Birt in a cell at Loganholme Police Station watchhouse.
Birt was attacked after being taken into custody for suspected shoplifting and arguing with Burkett.
The incident came to light after Birt was tried on a charge of assaulting Burkett.
A short video recording showed Birt being thrown into the cell by Burkett, who then grabbed her around the shoulders and pinned her against the wall.
The video was then allegedly turned off by Ablitt as Burkett walked towards Birt with a clenched fist. She was left with bruising and abrasions to her head, neck and chest.
Ablitt resigned from the QPS on Monday 24 November 2008.
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