A Muslim woman wearing a burqa was stopped in Sydney in June by a highway patrol officer for a random breath test. When he gave her a fine for not displaying her P-Plate correctly, she became angry and screamed at the officer that he was a racist and 'All cops are racists". But she wouldn't let the matter rest and seven days later she went to the police station and made a formal complaint against the officer, saying that he tried to forcibly remove her hijab, against her will.
But there was something she didn't know, the police in-car camera parked behind her vehicle had recorded everything and it soon became clear that her accusations were not true. Then she made her second mistake, she signed a statutory declaration, swearing that what she was saying was true.
But the judge wasn't buying it and today in Campbelltown Local Court Magistrate Robert Rabbidge said that Matthews was a malicious and ruthless liar and the evidence was overwhelming that she had submitted a false declaration to police. "There is not a shadow of doubt in my mind that she knew that the complaint was false" he said. "We've heard of the effect of your complaint could have had on the officer's career. It was deliberately malicious and quite a ruthless action in my belief". He sentenced Carnita Matthews 46, mother of seven children, to six months gaol with a release date of 18th May 2011.
Matthews' lawyer Stephen Hopper said there was no way for police to prove that his client was the one who signed the statutory declaration because proper identification checks had not been made by the police or the Justice of the Peace who oversaw the document's signing. Her lawyer has lodged an appeal and she was released on bail.
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