THREE Crown casino bouncers have been acquitted of charges over a drunk
patron’s death after he was brought forcibly to the ground and restrained.
Following a four-week trial in Victoria’s Supreme Court, a jury found Matthew
Scott Lawson (from Hoppers Crossing), 27, and Cameron Paul Sanderson (Northcote), 40, not guilty on Friday of the
manslaughter of Anthony William Dunning.
Mr Dunning, 40, died four days after he was thrown to the floor and
restrained for several four minutes while being ejected by security for
drunkenness following a day of drinking on July 3, 2011.
Their security colleague Benjamin Michael Vigo (from Hoppers Crossing), 24, was also acquitted.
All three had pleaded not guilty.
The incident was captured on CCTV footage and occurred seconds after Mr
Dunning turned around to where his two friends had been dragged to the ground
and restrained by Crown security staff.
The trial heard that Mr Dunning weighed 146 kilograms and had a blood alcohol
concentration of 0.19 per cent on the night.
He suffered a cardiac arrest while Lawson was on top of him and had his hand
or arm around Mr Dunning’s neck, which led to his brain being starved of
oxygen.
The prosecution argued that Mr Dunning was “quite senselessly and needlessly
and violently brought to the ground” and was “clearly and obviously helpless” in
the circumstances.
The trio were also accused of telling deliberate untruths, intentionally
exaggerated aspects of what they claimed had happened, and made several
misrepresentations about Mr Dunning’s behaviour to justify their actions.
This included stating that Mr Dunning had become abusive, aggressive and was
struggling with the bouncers while he was being restrained on the ground. The
prosecution said this contradicted what was seen of the incident in CCTV
footage.
The trio’s defence lawyers argued the bouncers were doing their job in
accordance with their training and strict legislation the casino was required to
follow, which includes that patrons are not allowed to be drunk on the
premises.
Counsel for Vigo, Geoffrey Steward, said his client was “just doing his job
lawfully” when he arrived at the scene and began assisting his security
colleagues in restraining a man who he was entitled to believe was being
physically aggressive.
He said at issue was the allegation of assault against his client, who had
not struck, punched or slapped Mr Dunning, and whether retrieving a resistant
arm so that Mr Dunning could be placed in the shut-down position, constituted an
criminal offence.
