Two former NSW police officers have admitted to assaulting a 48-year-old naked woman who was experiencing a psychotic episode on a Sydney street in January 2023.
Nathan Black (28) and Timothy Trautsch (30), both off-duty and in plain clothes, responded to a welfare call in the industrial suburb of Emu Plains. The woman, who had schizophrenia and was off her medication, was sitting naked on a curb, making incoherent statements about aliens.
Instead of de-escalating the situation, the officers assaulted her over an 18-minute period. Court footage showed the woman being pushed onto the road, kicked in the head, dragged by the hair, and pepper-sprayed six times — including on her back and genitals. She screamed in pain and pleaded repeatedly, “God, make me strong.”
The court heard the officers discussed using a Taser and baton. At one point, Trautsch laughed during the ordeal. In messages, Black boasted about emptying two canisters of pepper spray and shared bodycam footage with colleagues, describing it as “so good.”
Prosecutors argued the woman posed no threat and could have been restrained non-violently. The assault, they said, served no purpose other than to inflict pain.
Black pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, using a prohibited weapon, and sharing protected information. Trautsch pleaded guilty to similar charges. Neither man remains with NSW Police. The victim died from unrelated causes 18 months later.
The sentencing hearing resumes on July 15.
