An opponent of a trailer company revealed that a police officer had told a tow truck driver where he had been involved in a car accident in southern Sydney. The policeman was fired.
Less than a minute after the accident, the details will be broadcast through police stations in a confidential manner, while Hurstville officer David Luke Cottrell will text the information to the St George trailer driver, Charlie Ghassibe..
The two exchanged 389 calls and text messages between 2009 and 2011, many of which have been deleted. The police said one of them was proof that Mr. David and Mr. Ghassibe had one day taken a thousand dollars in the studio behind their trailer company.
Ghassibe wrote: "the workers are dying. You text me when you get there."
"I'm right around the corner," Cottrell replied.
During the five-and-a-half-year legal battle, Cotterell was suspended for almost three years, but the working Relations Council (Industrial Relations Commission) finally ruled this month in support of the police's decision to fire him.
Within 15 months of the three-day hearing, Cottrell dismissed him as "harsh, unreasonable and unfair."
At the end of 2011, the battle between trailer companies in the St George district became increasingly hot.
A tow truck company told police that his opponent, Mr. Ghassibe, had been prompted from two police officers.
Cottrell told IRC that he used Mr. Ghassibe as a work tool and texted him the address of the accident. Mr. Ghassibe no longer works for the St George trailer company.
He said he was once criticized for waiting for a tow truck for four hours at the scene of his car accident and for missing a robbery, so he texted the only company in the area he knew to prevent delays.
Even if Mr. Cottrell did not arrive at the accident, he would text Mr. Ghassibe because he provided "excellent service".
He insisted that their relationship was professional and that using Mr. Ghassibe would not be a significant benefit to him because the owner did not have to use his trailer.
"I never told anyone to use him," he said. My focus is to clear the road. "
He vehemently denied charging $1,000 for a "probe fee" and accused a colleague, Constable, Andrew Vrahas, of fabricating facts to divert his eyes because he was also close to Mr. Ghassibe.
After several internal investigations and a failed criminal prosecution because of insufficient evidence, the new state commissioner of police fired him in 2015 on the grounds that he provided confidential information and did not publish conflicts of interest and accept bribes.
At IRC, police said his lack of awareness of seriousness was worrisome.
They say Cottrell's explanation is that he texted Mr. Ghassibe because of his "dedication and efficiency", but this explanation is in line with his previous laziness, sleeping at work and transferring the job to lower-ranking police officers. The failure to go to court and not record the crime data was not in line with criticism.
Inaam Tabbaa, a member of the IRC, believes that Mr. Cottrell took a bribe.
"I don't think it's unreasonable to dismiss him, considering his insistence on denial and his taking advantage of the hint."
The new state police standard operating procedure is that police departments should take turns using two trailer companies to handle car accidents to avoid bias to one side.
