Birthday that Andrew won't forget
THESE are the injuries Andrew Rebetzke suffered when his birthday celebration took a turn for the worse on Wednesday night.
The 22-year-old Rockhampton man left hospital yesterday morning with the advice that he'd sustained a fractured eye socket and would have to travel to Brisbane for possible surgery after he and his sister attracted police attention outside a Rockhampton nightclub about 11pm.
Rockhampton Police Inspector Darren Somerville yesterday confirmed an incident had occurred, and a man had made an excessive force complaint to the Queensland Police Service.
Insp Somerville said the complaint would be fully investigated and CCTV footage of the incident would be available to assist.
Rebetzke said he was seeking legal advice before he was due to appear in a Rockhampton court for charges of assaulting police, obstructing police and public nuisance.
He said he was standing outside of the club, trying to get his sister to come back inside, when he was approached from behind and kicked to the ground before being handcuffed by an officer.
He said the impact busted his eye, and he claimed he was verbally abused and left bleeding on the ground before an ambulance arrived.
He admitted he was intoxicated but said he could recall the incident in detail.
"They shouldn't have used the force that they used with me ... it was very unprofessional.
"It could take me months to recover, and it could take a couple of years for the fracture to heal properly," he said.
He said his sister was also charged with public nuisance and was handcuffed, put in the back of a police vehicle and taken to the Rockhampton watch-house.
