Shot cop’s dad slams verdict fury

A court decision to acquit a terror suspect who shot and wounded a police officer has been criticised as “out of touch” by the officer’s father.

Geoff Wolsey, the father of Adam Wolsey who was shot in the hand by a terror suspect, yesterday said his son was still dealing with the psychological trauma and a judge’s decision to acquit the man had left him “dumbfounded”.

“I think he had to live with the fact of what happened to him but it will be a long time to accept what the court did,” said Mr Wolsey, adding the incident could easily have resulted in police fatalities.

All four Green Valley police officers - two male sergeants and two female senior constables called to arrest the man in Wilson Rd in November 2005 - have left the force medically unfit as a direct result of the gunfight.

Former Sergeant Wolsey had extensive psychological trauma from the incident, in which the man pulled a loaded gun from his pants and fired three shots, one striking Sgt Wolsey in the hand, as the officers approached him.

Sgt Wolsey was not told by his supervisors that he was arresting a terror suspect, only that he was to arrest a man with a backpack fitting a certain description.

After the man fired, shots were returned by his fellow officer Sgt Bates, striking the man in the neck.

In the judge-alone trial in the District Court, Judge Leonie Flannery acquitted the man of shooting at Sgt Wolsey with intent to murder him, shooting at Sgt Wolsey with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm, and shooting at him with intent to avoid arrest.

Judge Flannery accepted the man was armed with a gun, not because he planned to shoot at the officers, but because he was concerned for his safety amid “anti-Muslim sentiment” in the community.

She found it was a reasonable possibility he had fired a warning shot in panic.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal the man had gone to trial previously in 2010 on charges relating to shooting at both Sgt Wolsey and Sgt Bates and another judge had directed a not guilty verdict relating to Sgt Bates. The jury was hung over the charges related to Sgt Wolsey’s shooting and the judge-alone trial earlier this year was a retrial.

Following police outrage at Judge Flannery’s decision, police asked the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to lodge an appeal notice - which the DPP did.

The appeal was discontinued last month because, under law, it could not dispute findings of fact, only errors in law.

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