State of New South Wales v Coleman

The Court of Appeal of New South Wales considered a claim for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment brought by Mr Coleman against the State of New South Wales. Mr Coleman alleged that he had been unlawfully arrested by a police officer on suspicion of breaching an apprehended violence order (AVO), and that this arrest had resulted in his injury.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the arresting police officer had a reasonable suspicion, at the time of the arrest, that Mr Coleman had breached the AVO. This required the court to examine the information available to the officer and assess whether it was sufficient to form a genuine and reasonable belief that an offence had been committed.

The court affirmed the principle that an arrest is lawful if the arresting officer has a reasonable suspicion that a person has committed or is about to commit an offence. The court found that the information available to the arresting officer, when properly considered, did indeed support a reasonable suspicion of a breach of the AVO. Consequently, the arrest was deemed lawful, and the subsequent claims for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment were dismissed. The appeal was dismissed with costs.