Christchurch Taser victim says police overreacted

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Mon, 01 Aug 2011 6:11p.m.

Police say they needed to use the Taser after Graham Robertson made a number of threats

Police say they needed to use the Taser after Graham Robertson made a number of threats

By Juliet Speedy

A Christchurch man has accused police of over-reacting after they Tasered him during a standoff at his mother's house.

But police are standing by their actions, saying it was the perfect example of why Tasers are needed in law enforcement.

It was 3:30 in the morning when Graham Robertson's ordeal ended in him being Tasered twice by Christchurch police after they unsuccessfully tried to calm him down at his Riccarton home.

“They didn't need to Taser me at all. If they just let one cop come inside and my best friend in there, it wouldn't have happened, it wouldn't have ended like how it happened,” he says.

Robertson has mental health issues and admits to being no angel but he says although he was armed with knives, he was only threatening to harm himself.

After arguing with his girlfriend, police tracked him down but when they arrived Robertson did not like their aggressive approach.

A large group of police surrounded his house, and after ignoring the laser sights on his shirt the police fired. The first Taser missed him, a second blast inside the door immobilised him enough for the police to swoop.

“The first Taser didn't work, I managed to push that away. The second Taser got me, I fell to the ground and 10-15 cops came in, got me and slammed me to the ground.”

His mother was home at the time and was also arrested charged with obstructing the police after she refused to let them in to arrest her son.

“Graham wasn't doing anything wrong...and as far as I’m concerned he was fine, I was fine,” says his mother, Pam Burgess.

But the police told 3 News they needed to use the Taser after Robertson was highly agitated and made a number of threats. They say this is the perfect example of why a Taser is needed by police and they were able to end the situation without having to resort to a lethal weapon.

Robertson will appear in court later this month charged with threatening to kill and willful damage.

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Comments

04 Aug 2011 12:33a.m.

Rodger wrote:

They were armed

03 Aug 2011 11:00p.m.

Cam wrote:

If this had been the states they would have shot him and gone straight to lunch. Count yourself lucky they were not armed.

02 Aug 2011 08:05p.m.

Brett wrote:

Jan, in situations like this the Police don't show up to offer cuddles!

The guy had every opportunity to put the knive(s) down but he chose not to and instead threatened the officers and when someone is holding a knife you tend to take those threats seriously and not laugh them off.

If your child suffers from a mental illness as a normal parent you'd be there wanting help for your child. when you kid is holding onto knives wanting to self harm i wouldn't brush that off as being normal behaviour and would be telling my kid to put the knive(s) down.

The Police have been given a perfect tool which they've utilized appropriately and it's saved a life as the alternative pre tasers would have been a bullet!

If the guy think he's been hard done by then make a complaint to the Police Conduct Authority as the footage of the incident would have been captured on the taser camera which records both audio and visual.

02 Aug 2011 08:15a.m.

jan wrote:

have any of you who has commented, ever been arrested or seen a family member arrested? the police are agressive. maybe this situation could of been handled differently, but police aren't trained that way. this is a general comment to the way police act. When a person is backed into a corner, your behaviour can change and you panic, whether or not you put yourself in the situation. Quite possibly, and remember this guy has mental health issues, thought to himself that he was acting normally and saw the cops as aggressive. So thats his take on it. And the mother,some parents still care for their children for life, some still will back their children even they know they have done wrong. good or bad thats human nature.

02 Aug 2011 04:58a.m.

Alex wrote:

If he had knives, he could have every opportunity to use them. He deserved to be tasered. If you've don't comply with the police during a stand off, expect them to take the necessary action to subdue.

02 Aug 2011 04:25a.m.

Leo wrote:

Definetly no over-reaction! He had a knife!

If this was in the U.S.A. or some other countries the guy possibly would have been shot!

I think the use of the taser in this situation was not excessive and prevented the guy from harming himself and other people while at the same time not causing him any permament damage - as a gunshot wound may have.

01 Aug 2011 09:22p.m.

mike wrote:

I love it how the mother didn't think there was a problem. Her son only had a knife and was threatening to cut himself. Awesome stuff mum.

01 Aug 2011 08:07p.m.

PB wrote:

What a waste of air time. I completely agree with the last comment. The Police and Mental Health Services do a great job, Much of which you never see or hear about. This is clearly some Egg! That thinks his been hard done by and can get on TV for being unwell, know doubt he is having a laugh and bragging about this to all his mates. His mother needs to get her act together and stop making the situation worse. 3 NEWS what were you thinking allowing this to become news. The Police handled this in completely the right way.

01 Aug 2011 07:35p.m.

Andrew wrote:

Once again we have dysfunctional people and dysfunctional families reacting with such indignation! What were the alternatives? Better a taser than a bullet.

01 Aug 2011 06:29p.m.

Tane wrote:

Robertson, you have to be joking. You are ARMED WITH A KNIFE and threatening to harm yourself and you want a single police officer to come into your house alone to "talk with you" and because they didn't it's their fault? Good on the police for resolving this without anyone being injured. I'm sure the vocal anti-police minority will be all over this though...