Marr v Commissioner of Police

[1983] AFPDT 5

JUDGMENT No. .zE.2...1 ..J!?&

IN THE FEDERAL POLICE

No. 11 of 1983

DISCIPLINARY TRIBUNAL

BETWEEN : FREDERI CK NEWTON MARR

Appe l lan t

THE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE

Respondent

O R D E R S

THE PRESIDENT

9 DECEMBER 1983

CANBERRA, A .C .T .

THE TRIBUNAL ORDERS THAT

1. The appea l s be upheld.

2 .	I n l i e u of t h e p e n a l t y o f d i s m i s s a l from t h e A u s t r a l i a n Federal
P o l i c e imposed by t h e Commissioner o f Po l i ce i n r e s p e c t o f
Charge No. AFP:43/8283 t h e Appel lant be reduced i n rank from
t h e grade o f F i r s t Constable i n t he rank of Cons tab le i n
whichever o f t h e components o f t he A u s t r a l i a n Fede ra l P o l i c e
r e f e r r e d t o i n s s . 6 and 7 o f t he Aus t r a l i an Fede ra l P o l i c e Act
1979 he i s s e r v i n g t o t he grade of Constable i n t h e rank o f
Constable i n t h a t component, t h e reduc t ion i n rank t o t ake
e f f e c t from today.

/ 2 .

3. I n l i e u o f t h e p e n a l t y of dismissal from the A u s t r a l i a n Federal

P o l i c e imposed by the Commissioner of P o l i c e i n r e s p e c t o f

Charge No. AFP:44/8283 t h e r e be imposed on the Appe l l an t a

f i n e e q u a l t o the s a l a r y payable t o him f o r a p e r i o d o f f i v e

days a t t h e r a t e payable t h i s day.

4. I n l i e u o f t he p e n a l t y of d i smis sa l from the A u s t r a l i a n Federa l

P o l i c e imposed by the Commissioner of Po l i ce i n r e s p e c t o f

Charge No. AFP:45/8283 t h e r e be imposed on the Appel lan t a

f i n e e q u a l t o t he s a l a r y payable t o him f o r a p e r i o d o f f i v e

days a t t h e r a t e payable t h i s day.

5. The Appe l l an t ' s c o s t s of and i n c i d e n t t o the appea l be p a i d

by the Commonwealth.

6 . There be l i b e r t y t o apply i n r e s p e c t of t h e form of t h e

second o r d e r above.

I N THE	FEDERAL	P O L I C E	1
'I

D I S C I P L I N A R Y TRIBUNAL 1

BETWEEN : FREDERICK NEWTON MARR

A p p e l l a n t

AND: THE COMMISSIONER O F P O L I C E

R e s p o n d e n t

REASONS FOR D E C I S I O N KELLY J CPresident]

9 DECEMBER 1983

P r o t e c t i v e Se rv i ce F i r s t Constable Freder ick Newton

Marr ( t h e Appe l l an t ) , a member of t h e Aus t r a l i an Fede ra l P o l i c e ,

appea led a g a i n s t the p e n a l t y of d i s m i s s a l imposed upon him by

t h e Commissioner of Po l i ce p u r s u a n t t o S . 67(6) of t h e Complaints

( A u s t r a l i a n Federa l P o l i c e ) Act 1981 ( the Act) i n r e s p e c t o f each

o f t h r e e d i s c i p l i n a r y o f f e n c e s w i t h which he had been charged

b e f o r e a member of t h e T r i b u n a l , M r . J . R . B . N o r r i s , Q . C . He

p l eaded g u i l t y t o each charge . The Tr ibuna l recorded a f i n d i n g

t h a t he was g u i l t y o f each and, as r e q u i r e d by t h e Act , r e m i t t e d

t h e p roceed ings t o t he Commissioner o f Po l i ce f o r t h e i m p o s i t i o n

o f p e n a l t i e s .

The charges , a l l i n r e s p e c t o f breaches o f t h e A u s t r a l i a n

Fede ra l P o l i c e [Disc ip l ine) Regula t ions [the Regu la t i ons ) , were

p a r t i c u l a r i s e d as fo l lows : -

That t h e Appel lant was g u i l t y of a d i s c i p l i n a r y

of fence s p e c i f i e d i n paragraph 18(1) (a) o f t h e

A u s t r a l i a n Federa l P o l i c e (Disc ip l ine) Regu la t i ons

by contravening a p r o v i s i o n o f Div i s ion 1 of t h o s e

Regula t ions , namely paragraph 6. ( b ) , i n t h a t on

20 March 1982, a t Mile End i n the S t a t e o f South

A u s t r a l i a , he made an e n t r y i n an o f f i c i a l r e c o r d ,

namely, t he "Mile End Railway Squad Running S h e e t -

No. 166/82" showing -

1. ad jacen t t o t h e t ime of 1400 hours , "AFTERNOON SHIFT commenced du ty , F/C MARR SHEPHARD and

DEBNAM and McEWEN. S t a t i o n p rope r ty and
v e h i c l e checked a l l c o r r e c t . l';
2 .	ad j acen t t o t h e t ime of 1450 hou r s , "F/C DEBNAM
G McEWEN on mobile p a t r o l t o H i l l s a rea ." ; .
3.	ad j acen t t o t h e t ime of 1910 hou r s , "F/C McEWEN,

F/C MARR G SHEPHARD t o Bridgewater.";

thereby knowingly making f a l s e e n t r i e s i n an o f f i c i a l

record . (Aus t r a l i an Fede ra l Po l i ce Charges Nos. AFP:

43/8283, 44/8283 and 45/8283.)

A f o u r t h charge of f a i l i n g t o r e p o r t h i s knowledge of

t h e commission of an of fence by Constable McEwen t o h i s s u p e r i o r

o f f i c e r was	d e a l t wi th	by	a	f i n e	a f t e r t h e Appe l lan t	had p l eaded
g u i l t y .

I n s u b s t a n c e , t he Appe l l an t ' s grounds of appea l were

t h a t : -

1. Each p e n a l t y was unduly s e v e r e having r ega rd t o t h e

o f f e n c e admit ted and the m a t t e r s p u t i n m i t i g a t i o n .

2 . Gene ra l l y each p e n a l t y was ou t o f a l l p ropo r t i on t o

t h e o f f e n c e s and was unduly s eve re .

3 . The Commissioner f a i l e d t o have a p p r o p r i a t e r ega rd

t o t h e Appe l l an t ' s p r ev ious good c h a r a c t e r and s e r v i c e

! l

and h i s d e s i r e t o con t inue s e r v i n g .

4. The Commissioner f a i l e d t o c o n s i d e r t h e o f f ences a s

s u b s t a n t i a l l y a s i n g l e t r a n s a c t i o n .

5 . The l a p s e o f time between o f f ence and p e n a l t y meant

~

t h a t t h e p e n a l t y was unduly s eve re . ~

On 20 March 1982 t h e Appe l lan t was t he most s e n i o r o f

f o u r p o l i c e o f f i c e r s of . equa l rank r o s t e r e d f o r ra i lway duty .

C A s t h e most t o complete s e n i o r , it f e l l t o him t o be s h i f t s u p e r v i s o r and

t h e l o g , running s h e e t s and o t h e r records k e p t by

~

t h e squad d u r i n g t h e i r p e r i o d of duty on t h a t day. 20 March

1982 was a Sa turday . The s u p e r v i s o r o f t h e squad and, it appea r s ,

o f o t h e r squads performing ra i lway du ty , was Sergeant Bol l . He

was n o t on du ty a t t h e r e l e v a n t time and i n f a c t was absen t from

Adelaide	t o which he r e tu rned a t about 5 p.m.	t h a t day.	Neve r the l e s s , ~	l
I

t h e r e were	a v a i l a b l e	s e n i o r o f f i c e r s	from whom	the	Appel lant	might	1
l

r ea sonab ly have sought guidance concerning the problem which

l

conf ron t ed him on t h a t day.

The problem a rose because P r o t e c t i v e S e r v i c e F i r s t

Constable McEwen te lephoned t h e Appe l lan t from Canberra t o ask

him t o cover up f o r him a s he would n o t be a v a i l a b l e f o r duty

on t h a t day. F o o l i s h l y , t h e Appel lant agreed. He s a i d , "Well,

I'm n o t going t o s i g n your name anywhere," and then s a i d , " A l l

r i g h t . Well we w i l l cover f o r you." He mentioned t h e m a t t e r

t o t h e o t h e r o f f i c e r s on t h e s h i f t , Constables Debnam and Shephard.

He appeared wor r i ed and q u i e t , obv ious ly a p p r e c i a t i n g t h e g r a v i t y

o f h i s s i t u a t i o n y e t f i n d i n g himself i n t h e i n v i d i o u s p o s i t i o n of

having promised a f e l l o w o f f i c e r o f equa l rank t o do something

* 0

which was unlawful . H i s duty i n t he c i rcumstances was p l a i n b u t

h i s dilemma was unders tandable . I t w a s compounded when t h e

n e c e s s i t y t o make a p p r o p r i a t e e n t r i e s i n t h e running s h e e t a ro se

s i n c e wi thout them t h e decep t ion obviously could n o t have had

any hope of succes s .

The Commissioner i s , i n my op in ion , e n t i t l e d t o expec t

t h a t p o l i c e r e c o r d s w i l l be a c c u r a t e l y and t r u t h f u l l y mainta ined.

Breach of t h e du ty s o t o main ta in p o l i c e r eco rds must be viewed

very s e r i o u s l y . Th is i s n o t t he f i r s t case of i t s k ind wi th

which I have had t o dea l . While each such ca se must be d e a l t

w i t h on i t s m e r i t s , i t i s , I t h i n k , p roper t o s ay t h a t f a l s i f i c a t i o n

o f p o l i c e r e c o r d s , f o r whatever reason , may w e l l wa r r an t t h e

p e n a l t y o f d i s m i s s a l from the A u s t r a l i a n Fede ra l P o l i c e . Such

f a l s i f i c a t i o n i s an i n d i c a t i o n of i n c i p i e n t c o r r u p t i o n which

shou ld r i g h t l y be stamped o u t .

I accep t t h a t t h i s was t h e f i r s t t ime t h a t Constable Marr

had done such a t h i n g . Aged 34, he has had over e i g h t y e a r s s e r v i c e

i n t h e A u s t r a l i a n Fede ra l Po l i ce and i t s p redeces so r , t h e Commonwealth

P o l i c e . He does n o t appear t o have had any annual assessments

done upon h i m b u t h i s s e r v i c e h i s t o r y summary shows a r e s p e c t a b l e

p a s s i n t h e b a s i c Cons tab les ' course i n J u l y 1976 and t h a t upon

c o n f i r m a t i o n o f h i s appointment i n September 1976 he was desc r ibed

a s c a r r y i n g ou t d u t i e s i n a r e l i a b l e and e f f i c i e n t manner and a s

b e i n g p l e a s a n t , cour teous and n e a t . On 20 October 1979 he was

made F i r s t Constable. He d i d two cour se s i n 1981. H i s r e p o r t

from t h e Response Team Members' Course d e s c r i b e d him a s having

"from a slow s t a r t developed i n t o a good team member through

h a r d work and ded ica t ion" while t h e r e p o r t from a Bomb Search

Course desc r ibed him as "a capable s t u d e n t who showed capac i ty

t o develop those q u a l i t i e s necessary f o r l eadersh ip1 ' . On 9 J u l y

1982 he t r a n s f e r r e d t o t h e General P o l i c i n g Component.

C De tec t ive Sergeant Kerr ison d e s c r i b e d t h e Appellant a s

as good a worker a s anybody e l s e and s a i d t h a t i n f a c t on s e v e r a l

occas ions he thought he was s u p e r i o r t o some members of t he squad

o f which he had command. He found him t o be a very l o y a l and

c o n s c i e n t i o u s worker. Sergeant T i n s l e y desc r ibed him as a d i l i g e n t

worker , one of whom he had never had any bad r e p o r t s from any o t h e r

peop le w i t h whom he had worked.

I assume t h a t the Commissioner had a v a i l a b l e t o him a

t r a n s c r i p t o f t h e evidence given by Sergeants Kerr ison and Tins ley

C! and, no doubt , a copy of the Appe l l an t ' s s e r v i c e h i s t o r y . I assume,

t o o , t h a t he had a t r a n s c r i p t o f t h e submissions made on t h e

A p p e l l a n t ' s beha l f be fo re M r . N o r r i s by M r . Herriman. In spec to r

Brennan who i n v e s t i g a t e d the charges a g a i n s t t h e Appel lant gave

ev idence on h i s b e h a l f . He has known t h e Appel lan t throughout

h i s p o l i c e s e r v i c e . He s a i d t h a t t h e Appel lan t h e l d a good

r e p u t a t i o n o f being a hard working policeman. He had never had,

u n t i l t h e i n s t a n c e s under c o n s i d e r a t i o n , any reason t o doubt h i s

i n t e g r i t y and du r ing the course o f t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n he found

t h e Appel lan t very f rank and f o r t h r i g h t i n h i s answers.

From m a t e r i a l p l a c e d b e f o r e M r . No r r i s by M r . Herriman

who t h e n appeared f o r t h e Appe l l an t , a l though he d id n o t appear

f o r him on t h i s appea l , i t appears t h a t t h e Appel lant s e p a r a t e d

from h i s wi fe w e l l over a y e a r ago and i s having problems i n

connec t ion w i t h t h a t . However, he d i d n o t advance t h a t s e p a r a t i o n

o r h i s problems a s having any b e a r i n g upon t h e o f fences . He had

known Constable McEwen f o r some f o u r y e a r s b u t had had very l i t t l e

t o do w i t h him s o c i a l l y . They were working acqua in tances r a t h e r

t h a n c l o s e f r i e n d s . He assumed when Constable McEwen rang from

Canberra on 20 March 1982 t h a t t h e r e had been some k ind of

G

emergency w i t h which Constable McEwen was t r y i n g t o cope. He

d i d n o t check t o s ee what was t h e e x a c t case and on t h e s p u r o f

t h e moment decided t o h e l p . He d i d n o t r e f l e c t upon t h e

i m p l i c a t i o n s o f what he had agreed t o do a t t h a t moment beyond

h i s r e f u s a l t o s i g n Constable McEwenls name b u t immediately a f t e r

t h e STD c a l l had been completed he began t o r e a l i s e t h e d i f f i c u l t i e s

he had made f o r h imse l f . He was, however, unable t o make c o n t a c t

aga in w i t h Constable McEwen. Although he spoke t o t he o t h e r

Cons tab les on duty and t o l d them of t he phone c a l l h e , and i t appears

CI t h e y , f e l t themselves caught by t he s i t u a t i o n . He f e l t sympa the t i c

towards Constable McEwen. I t was a q u i e t day w i th l i t t l e t o do

i n t h e way of work and he thought no g r e a t harm would be done s o

f a r a s t h e t a s k s a l l o t t e d t o t h e squad were concerned.

M r . Fairbank o f counsel f o r t h e Commissioner conceded t h e

accu racy of t h e m a t t e r s o f f a c t p u t by M r . Herriman and, indeed ,

o f	t h o s e p u t by	M r .	Burton who	appeared	f o r t h e Appe l lan t b e f o r e
me.

I t seems t h a t s i n c e he committed t he o f f ences he has been

g iven and d i scharged r e s p o n s i b i l i t y commensurate wi th h i s s e n i o r i t y .

He h a s been i n charge of v a r i o u s s h i f t s from time t o time and

b e l i e v e s he has d i s cha rged h i s d u t i e s s a t i s f a c t o r i l y . There i s

n o t h i n g t o i n d i c a t e t o t h e con t r a ry .

Aga ins t t h e Commissionerts r i g h t t o be s a t i s f i e d t h a t

a l l e n t r i e s i n p o l i c e r eco rds a r e made a c c u r a t e l y and t r u t h f u l l y

may be s e t t h e e t h o s o f mateship p a r t i c u l a r l y between members o f

a d i s c i p l i n e d f o r c e . When t h a t mateship i s conver ted i n t o

d i s i n t e r e s t e d a c t i o n a s appears t o have been t h e ca se i n t h e s e

m a t t e r s , one may t h e more r e a d i l y unders tand i t . A s was p o i n t e d

o u t by Fox J i n Scanes v. Wilson, (1974) 2 2 F.L.R. 262, i n words

C,

which, hav ing r ega rd t o t h e d i f f e r e n t c i rcumstances which he was

c o n s i d e r i n g , may w e l l be cons idered a p p l i c a b l e h e r e ,

" I t would be dangerous t o impose on t h e P o l i c e

Force a s t a n d a r d i n r e l a t i o n t o such m a t t e r s which

i s v e r y much h i g h e r t han t h a t observed by t h e

community i n gene ra l . The conclus ion t h a t because

o f t h e un t rue s t a t emen t s no t r u s t cou ld be reposed

i n t h e appe l lan t s and no r e l i a n c e cou ld be p l a c e d

on them p r o p e r l y t o perform t h e i r d u t i e s , seems

t o me, w i t h r e s p e c t , t o be unsound, and n o t based

on o r d i n a r y human exper ience . "

Allowing f o r t he d i f f e r e n c e i n t h e c i rcumstances , I am

s a t i s f i e d on a l l t h e evidence t h a t t h i s i s a case where d i s m i s s a l

C) from t h e Force o f t h e Appe l lan t would r e f l e c t a s t a n d a r d too much

above t h a t o f t h e gene ra l community.

N e v e r t h e l e s s , t h e Appe l l an t ' s conduct wa r r an t s such

r e t r i b u t i o n a s w i l l i n d i c a t e t o him and t o o t h e r s t h a t , i n g e n e r a l ,

s e v e r e punishment w i l l be meted o u t t o those found g u i l t y o f a

s i m i l a r	o f f ence .
I t h i n k t h e p roper course i s t o o r d e r t h a t t h e appea l s

be a l lowed and t h a t i n r e s p e c t o f Charge No. AFP:43/8283 t h e

Appe l l an t be reduced i n rank t o t he grade o f Constable w i t h i n

t h e rank o f Constable and t h a t i n r e s p e c t o f each of Charges Nos.

AFP:44/8283 and 45/8283 he be f i n e d f i v e days pay. The r educ t ion

i n rank i s t o t ake e f f e c t from t h i s day.