Michael McKenna; 23/6/09
When police arrived at the yellow brick units in the central Queensland town of Brandon about 2:50am on June 12, Antonio Galeano was in a rage. The two young constables, one just a few months out of the academy, had been dispatched to the suburb just south of Townsville after a triple-0 call minutes earlier from a screaming woman. His girlfriend had just got away, cowering in a neighbour’s place and terrified that Galeano, 39, who had flung her across the room by her hair, was coming and couldn’t be stopped. Galeano was well known to police as an addict with a taste for methamphetamine, and someone of whom to be especially wary. A year ago he had been arrested on weapons charges, including possession of guns and a samurai sword. This father of one had a history of mental illness and had somehow walked out of the Townsville hospital hours earlier, after having been taken there by police the previous day for a mental health assessment. Doctors had cleared him.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25673705-28737,00.html
Tags: Australia, Human Rights, Police, Violence