Overview

• Former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas lodged a civil claim against the state of NSW alleging assault, battery, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution over her June 27 arrest at a Belmore protest.
• NSW Police withdrew a rarely used emergency anti-riot charge and replaced it with a standard move-on offence that Thomas’s legal team says should now be dismissed.
• A critical incident investigation overseen by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission remains active as Peter O’Brien and an anonymous senior officer contest Assistant Commissioner McFadden’s finding of no misconduct.
• Thomas is due to appear at Bankstown Local Court on August 12 to face the move-on charge while recovering from a second eye surgery that doctors warn could leave her with permanent vision loss.
• Greens MPs and civil liberties advocates have seized on the case to challenge newly expanded protest laws and press for greater police accountability.