A woman wrongfully handcuffed and detained while walking by a peaceful protest to protect a heritage church on the NSW South Coast has received a $60,000 compensation payout from NSW Police.
The payment covers $30,000 in costs and $30,000 in compensation and is due to be accompanied by a written acknowledgement that police were at fault.
Joanne Warren is a Huskisson resident and member of the Huskisson Heritage Association that has campaigned since 2018 for heritage listing of the historic former Huskisson Anglican Church.
Ms Warren said she was walking with her dog past the well-known site in April 2020 when she noticed a commotion going on and decided to investigate.
"We came on site just to gather around gently and quietly and [it] all unravelled," she said.
"I ended up being assaulted while trying to protect one of our other community members from being pushed by the police officer, so I was thrown to the ground and arrested."
Ms Warren, now 61 years old, said she believed the police officer was not aware that the section of the grounds where she was standing was owned by the Jerringa Local Aboriginal Land Council.
"We were standing with permission on Jerringa land and [he] assumed that we were not following directions to move off," she said.
"He threw me to the ground then picked me up, put me into handcuffs behind my back and led myself and another community member off to sit in the back of a paddy wagon for about 40 minutes or so until we were released."
"We weren't told what the arrest was for and then after 45 minutes passed he opened the back and said now you are unarrested, you can leave."
Ms Warren turned to the Redfern Legal Centre in Sydney for assistance and a case was lodged against police.
"I don't even know if I would call it a protest," senior solicitor Samantha Lee said.
"It was a very small gathering of people who were just walking through the bush really with a small dog when Joanne was approached by a police officer.
"It was a Sunday morning it was very peaceful and unfortunately things escalated when the police arrived."
Ms Lee said police overstepped the mark.
"No action of violence was called for by the police officer," she said.
"She was then put into a paddy wagon [and] all of this was just based on the potential of a minor offence of trespass."
A statement from NSW Police confirmed the incident, but shed little light on the current status of the police officer involved.
"The NSW Police Force recently settled a civil claim by way of a judgement for the plaintiff in the amount of $60,000, which includes damages and legal costs," the statement read.
"A complaint investigation is currently underway into the incident."
The payout to Ms Warren has been bittersweet for fellow Huskisson resident and friend Akira Kamada, who said he was also manhandled by police at the same site on March 26, 2020.
Mr Kamada said he rushed to the site in response to a call about members of the community trying to stop the culling of a mature native tree.
He said during his arrest he was thrown to the ground by police, further damaging a previously broken shoulder.
"I was screaming with pain and then they put me into the police van and [I] was taken to the police station," Mr Kamada said.
"I asked them, 'Could you call an ambulance because I am in so much pain?' but they just ignored me."
Mr Kamada was charged with trespassing and resisting arrest and later pleaded guilty to the charges on the recommendation of a lawyer.
The Redfern Legal Centre continues to call for a parliamentary inquiry into the use of force by NSW Police, citing cases such as the tasering of a 95-year-old woman with dementia in a Cooma nursing home, who died in hospital following the incident.