44-year-old Jermaine "Horse" Garnett has pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated assault against police officers following an incident at Shisha's Night Club on Saturday, May 2. Garnett appeared unrepresented before Magistrate Mannon Dennison and was charged with assaulting PC Paul Faber and PC Britney Ferguson during their duties. He was granted bail of $4,000 with one surety, which he met. Garnett, who appeared in court with visible injuries, claims police used excessive force. He says he complied when instructed to leave the club but was pushed outside by an officer, causing him to fall off a verandah and land on his face. Today he gave his account of what happened:
Jermaine "Horse" Garnett, Accused
"The police they just actually came to put me out of the club because I was smoking cigarettes and thing and then cigarette smoke in the place. It wasn't nothing to say like normal but it's just something that they are targeting people. I just believe, I know for business people they tell them they shouldn't be smoking or what but tobacco smoke in the place not like I was smoking Marijuana and then they came and pushed me around for those simple little things. Touching you, pushing you around and then we are a certain kind of people when we are under small influence of alcohol it will be a little smaller channel because we don't want people to touch us up, we don't want people pushing us around and certain things to deal with the police meaning that they want to push you around and turn you around and we are big people. Just the reason of the suit makes them always do the advantage meaning that they aren't supposed to put their hands on them in that situation. Cause if they see they're putting me outside of a club and I done escort myself out. No forcing or nothing happened. Why choose to shove me from behind and shove me around the place because you ant me out thinker than you think it or do it."
"I was smoking and they don't need to be telling anyone that every minute so the best thing to do was to put me out. So by her saying that to the other W, the other W just used the discretion and said well he will go out one time and he just started to take his hand and shove it in my back piece and he, she and the next officer combined together so I just swung my hand back way and just knock of their hand and explained that nobody should be touching me cause I will go and in that process of time little over too intoxicated and I danced off the veranda and skate down and just dropped on the sidewalk and knock my face on the sidewalk."
Garnett plans to file a formal complaint with the Professional Standards Branch and is urging police to review surveillance footage from the club, which he says will show he was abused. He is recovering at home and seeking medical treatment.
