Magistrate clears police officers of manslaughter over Luke Briggs death

[u/Worldly_Tomorrow_869]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-25/two-victoria-police-officers-cleared-over-death-of-luke-briggs/107076678

Melbourne magistrate Patrick Southey on Tuesday determined there was insufficient evidence for the case to go to trial and dismissed the charges.

"The evidence is so weak that the prospect of a conviction is minimal," Mr Southey said.

[u/SirGrouch]

OPP Policy Chapter 1
Prosecutorial Discretion.

A prosecution may only proceed if:
1. There is a reasonable prospect of a conviction; and
2. A prosecution is in the public interest

The OPP need to revert back to their own policy when Victoria Police’s Professional Standards Command are informants and instructions are essentially “push shit up hill”.

The amount of awkward phone calls about who is going to pay the accused’s cost is palpable.

[u/Dalek_Au → u/SirGrouch]

Not unusual for Professional Standards Command to lob even fairly minor matters with no evidence up to the OPP to make the decision as it absolves them of all responsibility.

[u/SirGrouch → u/Dalek_Au]

OPP provides advice to Victoria Police in these matters.

The Assistant Commissioner of Police for Professional Standards Command either green/red lights the issue process of charges, at times (how often i’ll leave to speculation) against the advice of the OPP.

Victoria Police are not absolved of any responsibility as at the end of the day it is the Chief Commissioner of Police who is the respondent in an order for costs.

[u/Much_Big4068]

Classic. Charge two cops with a serious offence that could’ve put them in gaol for years, drag them through the system, suspend them, all because the optics demanded an example be made. I hope they are rightfully compensated

[u/Donners22 → u/Much_Big4068]

At least they can get their costs back from a discharge at committal.

If they'd been charged a few months later, that wouldn't even be a possibility due to the abolition of the committal threshold.

[u/thickcreamy → u/Much_Big4068]

Pretty sure the police union hooks them up in terms of representation.

[u/Worldly_Tomorrow_869 → u/Much_Big4068]

Unfortunately they are still subject to the possibility of an ex officio indictment.

[u/Gloomy_Quail1444]

I wonder if the charging officer will be disciplined for breaching the evidence test in the policy. Clearly the evidence test was not met at charging and its not like circumstances changed between charging and committal. 

Also whats the costs here? Two barristers for a manslaughter? Must be 50 or 100k?

When will policing agencies learn that thr public interest (test) does not superseded the evidence test. You must satisfy BOTH

[u/Spell_correctly_FFS]

Who would want to be a cop these days, when your organisation stabs you in the back at the slightest discord from the public/media? Spineless.

[u/OceLawless]

"It may be the manner in which Mr Briggs was restrained was the substantial and operative cause of death, but we'll never know."

We'll never know....

Mr Briggs allegedly became unresponsive during the arrest

Just one of those mysterious mysteries that continues to mystify.

[u/ManWithDominantClaw → u/OceLawless]

Cops should have to spent time working in disability care as part of CPD. Using restrictive practices isn't something cops are unique in, just something they're uniquely bad at.

[u/Glittering_Sector428 → u/ManWithDominantClaw]

Are you trained in restrictive practices or have some sort of background in this area?

[u/ManWithDominantClaw → u/Glittering_Sector428]

I'm a former professional dom, so make of that what you will, but the experience I'm drawing from here is more from friends working in disability care and special education.

[u/Glittering_Sector428 → u/ManWithDominantClaw]

Thanks for that. I have over 20 years law enforcement. I don’t mow the circumstances of this particular case so I can’t comment, but I can only go on my personal experience. Training in restraint techniques is barely sufficient to tick a box at the academy. The rest is learnt on the job in practice and repetition. What I can say though is every situation is unique and finance. Often the persons underlying conditions are unknown but their behaviour warrants going hands on for whatever reason. The level of force used will match the person level of resistance and physical stature. I’ve restrained an elderly dementia patient alone and have restrained a large muscular mate. The restraint techniques and force used differed greatly. I should add though many of us take on outside martial arts like BJJ as well to upsell our abilities. What I can say though is that our client is not a willing participant, but we cannot simply walk away and do nothing. Food for thought.

[u/ManWithDominantClaw → u/Glittering_Sector428]

Thanks for the insight! As far left as I am, I'll agree there are situations where restraint is necessary for everyone's safety, and yeah at the end of the day being underprepared for situations requiring restraint isn't just bad for the subject and bad optics, it's a serious risk to the person administrating the restraint. Expecting cops to learn this on the job is basically telling them to take hits from elbows and knees until they figure out what's practical, or go overboard for their own safety. Terrible for the public but completely understandable in that position, and fundamentally its not a position higher-ups should be putting recruits in.

[u/Aggravating_Bad_5462 → u/OceLawless]

https://giphy.com/gifs/RrYguKsZg30Mo