Connivance 姑息養奸

Sacked police officer wins back his job in appeal

Jim O'Rourke

March 27, 2011

ADAM McDONALD was a respected police officer who was headed for a long career in the force.

But his life began to unravel in January 2009 after waking drunk at a house party and finding that a black marker was used to draw penises and obscenities on his face and body. Someone had even scrawled ''[f---] the pigs'' on his back after he passed out. The off-duty senior constable stormed out of the house and jumped in his car. Moments later he crashed into a parked car and was charged with being more than four times over the legal alcohol limit.

In December 2009 the 35-year-old was sacked due to a ''lack of Police Commissioner's confidence''. But last week he won his job back.

On the day of the accident, Mr McDonald had four beers while playing poker at the Kiama Golf Club from about 1.30pm and then several bourbon and colas at the house of an acquaintance.

The Industrial Court, where Mr McDonald appealed against his dismissal, heard he had left the house abruptly just after discovering the drawings. He angrily confronted people at the party and said he left the house because he feared he would be assaulted.

Police called to the crash found Mr McDonald, who was stationed at the Commuter Crime Unit at Campbelltown, smelling strongly of alcohol and was unsteady on his feet.

The court heard that he asked the officers to record the incident as a minor accident and let him walk home. When the officers refused, he said, ''This is f---ed, I can't believe you are doing this,'' and later became abusive to officers at the police station. He also asked an officer to take the breath test for him.

Mr McDonald was breath-tested and returned a reading of 0.205. He later pleaded guilty in court.

Industrial Court judge Wayne Haylen heard that Mr McDonald later said he could not remember the incident, but had admitted that he had a drinking problem.

In his judgment Justice Haylen noted that Mr McDonald had expressed remorse and was attending regular alcohol counselling.

Justice Haylen ordered last week that Mr McDonald be reinstated because he ''has drawn back from the precipice and is deserving of a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of the Police Service.''

Mr McDonald did not return the The Sun-Herald's calls.

I read the above news with displeasure. It is such a disgrace that this cop should be reinstated to enforce the law while he had behaved in such a way anyone could not expect of to come from a policeman. Being drunk is one thing. Trying to solicit his colleagues to tamper with his breath test amounts to an attempt to pervert the course of justice. I wonder why he was not charged.  I can feel a strong sense of favouritism. His dismissal without further charge is already a very lenient treatment. Now that the court gives him further credit for his remorse and attendance of rehab for his alcohol problem has really gone too far. The dismissal itself is not a harsh penalty for him at all. He has brought the name of the police force into disrepute. He is also unfit to be a policeman by trying to influence his colleagues to turn a blind eye towards his drunken and disorderly behaviour. The court is over lenient. Its reason is an affront to the intelligence of the people. This cop deserves a chance to redeem himself to be a good citizen instead of a policeman. This is what I always advocate against: connivance 姑息養奸.