ACT Policing officer disciplined over threat to 'pummel' Rosemary Rix's head in during arrest

"F---ing need a f---ing plastic surgery," the officer also told Aboriginal woman Rosemary May Rix, who was later "gassed in a confined space" after she started a fire in her cell at Canberra's jail.

Authorities' treatment of Rix can be revealed after her lawyer, Taden Kelliher of Tim Sharman Solicitors, tendered videos of both incidents in court.

The first incident unfolded in December 2020 when Rix, 23, was arrested in Hackett.

Police claimed at the time to have seen her running from the passenger seat of a stolen Hyundai Tucson, which had been involved in a prolonged pursuit.

She was taken into custody while allegedly trying to switch vehicles to a Kia Sportage, which "accelerated away heavily" and narrowly avoided hitting an officer when she did not make it.

The driver of the Kia later jumped into Lake Burley Griffin to evade police, sparking a major search when he could not be located for several hours.

Police body-worn camera footage reveals that before Rix was transported to the ACT watch house, an officer aggressively approached her and demanded to know who was in the Sportage.

"Don't f---ing lie to me," the officer told Rix when she replied that she did not know.

He then pointed in her face as he threatened the 23-year-old.

"I'll drag you in the f---ing bushes and pummel your f---ing head in," the officer ranted.

"My officers are out there risking their lives. Who's in the other car?"

Rix responded by politely asking police to call her lawyer.

"Call your lawyer?" the officer fired back before making the plastic surgery remark.

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He was again raising his voice and demanding answers as the footage captured by the three body-worn cameras at the scene came to an end.

An ACT Policing spokesman told the Sunday Canberra Times the force did not "support or condone the language and sentiment use in the footage".

"As a result of normal review processes, the conduct depicted in the footage was internally identified and reported to the [Australian Federal Police] professional standards team," he said.

"As a result of the investigation, the complaint was established and the officer who made the comments was subject to disciplinary action."

Rix was charged after her arrest with riding in a stolen vehicle, but prosecutors withdrew the charge on the eve of a hearing.

The second incident, over which Rix has pleaded guilty to a common assault charge, occurred while she was in jail at the Alexander Maconochie Centre last September.

She was isolating in the wake of a positive COVID-19 test when she set fire to some paper towel in her cell.

Guards proceeded to spray a fire extinguisher into Rix's cell while she was still inside, filling the cell with hazardous gas.

During the incident, Rix spat at a guard and tried to grab her through the cell door.

In a letter to the Galambany Court, which deals with Indigenous offenders, Rix expressed remorse for these actions and described having felt claustrophobic after spending about two weeks in the cell.

"Police and public officials have been a part of my life since I was young," she wrote.

"They were never around in good situations. They were always there when I was in my worst state of mind possible, therefore I was always very emotional or anxious.

"Each time I have had an altercation with a police officer, they have always over-extended their use of power and I was either being disregarded, threatened or intimidated or discriminated against.

"Therefore I feel like I will never be able to feel safe to call the police or feel safe with an authority figure."

Rix said that, during the incident with the corrections officer, she felt "like I just wasn't safe".

"I was gassed in a confined space with a fire extinguisher and, as wrong as it was, that was my instant reaction, to assault another being," Rix said.

Rix is due to be sentenced on June 3.

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