Police Officer Charged With Assault Over Hannah Thomas’ Arrest

A NSW Police officer has been charged with assault over the arrest of pro-Palestine protester, Hannah Thomas in June.

First reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, the news was confirmed by NSW Police in a media statement on Tuesday morning.

The 33-year-old senior constable was issued a court attendance notice for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and is due to appear before Bankstown Local Court on Tuesday 18 November 2025.

NSW Police said he is being managed in the workplace, with his employment status under review.

35-year-old Hannah Thomas was one of five protesters arrested at an early morning pro-Palestine protest in June at SEC Plating in Belmore, with her lawyers alleging she was punched in the face by a NSW police officer.

Thomas was taken to hospital that morning where she required emergency surgery. She has since undergone another round of surgery, and may permanently lose vision in her right eye.

LECC investigation underway

The former Greens candidate was charged with resisting police, failure to comply with a move-on direction, and refusing or failing to comply with a direction to disperse, all of which she pleaded not guilty to. These charges, along with the charges against the other four arrestees, were dropped earlier this month.

Almost $40,000 in costs was awarded to the group on Friday, with magistrate George Breton saying NSW Police and the Office of the Director for Public Prosecutions had conceded there was a “flaw in the prosecution case which revolved around the asserted unlawfulness of the protest”.

Police denied any wrongdoing at the time, with Thomas’ court documents attributing her injuries to  “interference” from other protesters.

Speaking to the ABC on June 30, Assistant Commissioner Brett McFadden said a “preliminary review” of body-worn video showed “no information… that indicates any misconduct on behalf of any of my officers”.

The arrest was declared a critical incident due to “questions of excessive force”, with an investigation by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission remaining active and current.

Thomas plans to sue the NSW Police for their actions, saying the actions of all the officers present the day of her arrest should be reviewed.

“It took the police two days to charge me, but 73 days later, the male police officer who punched me in the head with enough force to rip open my right eyeball has not been charged, and to the best of my knowledge, he remains in uniform prowling the streets of western Sydney,” she said.

“If he was willing to punch me in the face in front of so many witnesses and with people filming, I shudder to think what he is doing when no one’s watching.”