Thursday, September 07, 2006 at 12:02am
A bad back may stop you carrying out your duties as a police officer, but it appears it no deterrent to being a corrupt cop. Self confessed former corrupt policeman Christopher John Laycock yesterday failed in his bid to get $80,000 in compensation for being discriminated against by the NSW Police for having a bad back. So Gotcha thought it would be interesting to compare what he was telling the police force about his back problems with his extracurricular activities, which were detailed in a Police Integrity Commission report released in December.
According to evidence he presented to the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal for his compensation case, he underwent surgery in November 2001 for an extrusion of the L5 S1 disc that had compressed the S1 nerve root.
But according to the PIC report, Laycock admitted that was the same month he was involved in stealing $70,000 in gold jewellery and cash from a woman in Glebe. He and two others posing as police officers told the woman they needed to search her home for drugs. They took the jewellery and cash during the search. Gotcha assumes one of the others carried the bag of loot away.2001 was also the year that Laycock admitted he received $10,000 to help a jury, although he and the other man involved did not actually approach any juror.
In September 2002 he was placed on restricted duties by a police medical officer and the following month Laycock was awarded a lump sum compensation payment by the by the Compensation Court. The compensation was for a one-third permanent impairment of his back, a 20 per cent loss of use of his left leg above the knee and a 25 per cent loss of the use of his penis.
In August 2003 Laycock was medically certified as being able to return to duties as a police officer, with the exception of an tasks that required “violent twisting task or lifting weights of more than 20 kilos.
Obviously the $10,000 Laycock picked up for allegedly preparing a report in October 2003 that played down a suspect role in a murder weighed less than 20 kilos. And in December 2003 he admitted to planning the robbery of a restaurateur that gained him and two others $23,500. Laycock drove the van used in the robbery” given his left leg disability, we assume it was an automatic.
In July, 2004, while still under the supervision of a force medical rehabilitation co-ordinator, Laycock admitted extorting $10,000 from a suspect.
And in September 2004, during the nationwide Operation Auxin child pornography raids, Laycock and another man received $4000 in return for tipping off a suspect that his home was about to be searched and his computer seized.
Laycock was sacked from the force in November 2004. The PIC recommended in December last year that consideration be given to charging him over his self-confessed corrupt activities. No charges have yet been laid.
In yesterday ruling rejecting compensation, the Administrative Decisions Tribunal said the evidence showed the NSW Police to considerable lengths to assist the applicant to deal with his disability and to provide him with suitable work which he could reasonably perform.
Additional reading: Acting on advice from the DPP the Police Integrity Commission
