Cops guilty of pepper-spray assault on naked, mentally ill woman
Share this @internewscast.com

Warning: This story contains details and content that some readers may find distressing.

A naked woman having a psychotic episode was punched, kicked, dragged by her hair and pepper-sprayed by two police officers who have admitted using unlawful force.

“You have to do what you have to do,” one of officers, senior constable Nathan Black, told medical staff later when the schizophrenic woman was taken to Nepean Hospital in western Sydney.

Nathan Black departs Penrith District Court at Sydney, Thursday, July 10, 2025.
Nathan Black was one of two police officers who assaulted a naked woman having a psychotic episode. (AAP Image/Miklos Bolza)

Black and constable Timothy John Trautsch were in plain clothes when they made a welfare check on the 48-year-old woman in an industrial area at Emu Plains on January 22, 2023.

“If you touch me, you are f—ed and I mean f—ed. They’re up there watching,” she told the two officers while sitting naked on a grassy curb.

“You don’t know about the aliens, do you?”

Court documents reveal the woman had been prescribed an antipsychotic but was not taking the medication at the time.

Black, 28, and Trautsch, 30, first talked to the woman – who cannot be named for legal reasons – trying to get her into an ambulance and off to the hospital.

Video footage played at a sentence hearing at Penrith District Court today shows the pair’s violence escalating during an 18-minute assault against the woman.

She was pushed onto the road, kicked twice in the head, dragged along by her hair and punched.

At one stage, the two officers struggled trying to handcuff her on the ground as she lashed out with her arms.

She was also sprayed six times with pepper spray, twice in the face and once on her back, which was grazed after falling into the rough road surface.

Timothy Trautsch departs Penrith District Court at Sydney, Thursday, July 10, 2025.
Timothy Trautsch pleaded guilty to five charges related to the assault. (AAP Image/Miklos Bolza)

“That can be done for no other purpose than the infliction of pain, to spray OC onto a lady’s back who has been at various stages dragged or fallen onto the floor,” crown prosecutor Nicholas Marney said.

Some of the pepper spray got onto her genitals, the court was told

The woman’s shrieks and sobs were full of expletives at the two officers.

“God, make me strong. God, make me strong,” she said over and over.

“God, please. I’m sorry I didn’t listen. I’m sorry, God.”

At one stage, the woman defecated on the road and on Black’s leg.

“Wash your dirty stinky arse,” one of the officers was heard saying.

The two men discussed using a Taser and long baton, while Trautsch was at one point seen laughing.

The officers could have restrained the woman or just talked to her but instead chose violence, Marney said.

“It should never have got to that stage, they had an obligation,” he told Judge Graham Turnbull.

There was no threat posed with the two men able to contain her by pushing her onto the road, he argued.

Even as the woman grabbed for the handcuffs, this did not require kicking her in the head, Marney said.

Speaking to a psychologist who gave evidence to the court, Black and Trautsch both claimed they were experiencing long-standing mental health challenges at the time of the incident.

Black pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, using a prohibited weapon without a permit and three counts of common assault.

He also admitted two counts of intentionally publishing protected information after sending snippets of the body-worn footage to another police officer.

In a message exchange, he described how the pair had emptied two cans of pepper spray on the woman.

“The whole body worn (footage) is so good shows her being f—ed,” he wrote.

Trautsch pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, three counts of common assault and one count of using a prohibited weapon without a permit.

Both officers no longer work for the NSW Police Force.

The woman died due to unrelated circumstances 18 months after the attack.

The sentence hearing continues on July 15.

Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.

Share this @internewscast.com
You May Also Like

Police Operation Concludes with Man and Property Cleared in Search for Dezi Freeman

A man stopped by police searching for fugitive Dezi Freeman in Victoria…

Idaho Psychiatrist Accused of Assaulting Patient with Unlawful Instrument

An Idaho psychiatrist has been arrested for allegedly raping a patient with…

Tennessee Father Sentenced for Killing Ex and Disposing of Newborn in River

A Tennessee jury found a Memphis man guilty Tuesday, in connection with…

Mother-in-Law Allegedly Hired Hit on Law Professor Son-in-Law; Jury Misconduct May Lead to Her Release

After nearly three weeks of testimony, a jury swiftly reached a verdict…

Driver Fatally Strikes Two Teenage Girls on Bikes After Stalking Them

Two 17-year-old girls in New Jersey were killed on Monday when they…

Gainesville resident detained after assaulting security guard at Shands

Staff report GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Lavell Lorenzo Lawrence Strong, 29, was arrested…

QuikTrip Dispute Over Right-of-Way Escalates to Tragedy, Police Report

Inset from left to right: Alfred Jackson Jr. and Olivia Guster (Denton…

Woman Causes Disturbance at Little Caesars Over $1 Sauces: Police Report

Share copy link Inset: Breanna Haynes (Louisville Metro Police Department). Background: The…

Woman Allegedly Sets Ex’s House Ablaze After Being Stood Up for Concert, Police Report

Background: Peek Road in Hartselle, Ala. (Google Maps). Inset: Amy Beth Taylor…

Former Groomsman Denied Bail in Connection to ‘Brutal’ Gold Coast Murder

A man accused of brutally murdering a father-of-two has been denied bail…

Family Secures Significant Compensation from Agency Following Son’s Tragic Passing

Noah Cuatro smiles in a photograph (GoFundMe). Los Angeles County will compensate…

Police Report: Woman Attempts to Run Over Teen

Share copy link Background: The Smith County Jail in Tyler, Texas (Google…