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Strip-search court win exposes NSW government to massive payout
- On Tuesday, the NSW Supreme Court ruled that police unlawfully conducted a strip search on 27-year-old Raya Meredith at a 2018 music festival in Byron Bay, ordering the payment of $93,000 in damages.
- The strip search followed a drug detection dog alert with no drugs found, and the state later admitted the search violated legal safeguards despite initially denying unlawful conduct.
- The court condemned the search as humiliating and held NSW Police breached protocols designed to protect privacy and personal autonomy by forcing Meredith to remove all clothing in a makeshift cubicle.
- Lead plaintiff Meredith became head of a 3,000-member class action, with lawyers warning this ruling could declare thousands of similar searches unlawful and urging the government to settle to end police abuses.
- This ruling exposes widespread shortcomings in police strip search procedures and may lead to substantial compensation claims from festivalgoers, while investigations into the authority and practices of NSW Police regarding such searches continue.
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Total News Sources16
Leaning Left6Leaning Right3Center1Last UpdatedBias Distribution60% Left
Bias Distribution
- 60% of the sources lean Left
60% Left
L 60%
R 30%
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