‘Exceedingly heavy-handed’: ACT police criticised by magistrate for Tasering disabled Aboriginal woman

Exclusive: Body-worn camera footage shows woman pulled off bench and a Taser activated despite ‘putting up no resistance’, magistrate says

A magistrate has criticised “exceedingly heavy-handed” ACT police officers who Tasered an Aboriginal woman with an intellectual disability during a routine arrest.

The woman, named Emma, pleaded with officers not to use the stun gun on her and told them she was unarmed during the arrest at a Canberra bus stop in January.

Police were called because of reports Emma had a knife, but she was only found to have two pairs of scissors, one of which was broken, in a nearby backpack.