I’ve known Barry Dickins for years. He is a good bloke. And he writes beautifully.
He was on his way home in early October, waiting for the bus in Lygon St Carlton on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
A police pursuit vehicle came screeching up, blocking the path of the bus Barry was about to board. The police then strip searched him, in public. They said they had a report of someone fitting his description having pinched a T-shirt from K-Mart in Lygon St.
There isn’t a K-Mart in Lygon St.
The police filmed him being strip searched. They found nothing, and sped off. Maybe they went to some place near to where there actually is a K-Mart.
Barry verified the details of the event in an affidavit which he swore at the Reservoir police station in mid-October.
And he wrote a terrific piece about the event. It was published in The Sunday Age on 25 October. He has sworn to the accuracy of it. Next day, it was taken down from The Age website at the request of senior police. But you can read it here:
And you should read it, because it it is an alarming account of what some people will do if they are given a uniform and a bit of power.
Don’t let this episode be buried by the police. And don’t let it be forgotten.
I was appalled by this story of assault and the memory of it wouldn’t leave me so I went searching for it to show family and friends. I couldn’t find the article and now I know why and my jaw has dropped even lower.
Super clumsy stuff – in every direction – from The Age as well as the police. But if its happening on Lygon Street to white middle class men who can write to the paper, who else is it happening to?
Barry Dickens is Melbourne (after Melba and Dame Edna), who the fuck would do this to the essence of their intellectual life. (obscene vernaculer deleted) The members of the Victorian Police Force who undertook this piece of totlitarian thuggery should be horsewhipped out of the service forever. A fucking disgrace!!!
Wait for the court case, Bruce, before ordering any whippings. I suspect there will be some red faces from the Fourth Estate and legal fraternity. The video from a nearby bus which recorded the whole thing, together with an account of an independent witness, will establish the truth. Ever wondered why the Age, after its lawyers (and Julian)were shown the vision suddenly and quietly withdrew it from their webpage? Wonder why Julian hasn’t mentioned it again? After initially saying he ‘wouldn’t let it rest’?
Dear Julian,
Apologies for the bad language in that last comment.
The irony in all this is if VicPol (and other government organisations) approached wrongdoing in their ranks as a learning experience, their reputations would be far more intact. There is a strange obsession with reputation in government agencies which, by its very nature, often has the opposite effect. Stories like those experienced by Dickens are important to be shared especially if VicPol is abusing its power by suppressing the media and freedom of speech.
Obviously wrong from the Police, but my question is what are our rights, as compared to just doing what the cops ask in the hope of escaping unarrested and unscathed. This is the kind of stuff they need to be held to account for, and over a stolen T-Shirt, really. Is the Tasty nightclub bust already forgotten?
Very unsavoury behaviour by the police, but unfortunately hardly unprecedented! The shocking thing for me is the compliance of The Age in taking down the article. Sad – The Age of my youth wouldn’t have buckled so easily. Sigh . . .
I have tears in my eyes and a tightness in my chest. I realise I’m holding my breath. Please don’t let this whole thing be true – the targeting, the humiliation, the disgusting treatment of a Melbourne icon, the abuse of power… the list goes on. And then for it all to be hidden away from the public eye of those who look to the uniform for protection? What a sad little world we are living in. So sorry Barry Dickens. Thank you – again- Julian Burnside.
Julian, you’re a lawyer. And you can’t see the holes in Barry’s fantasy. Or why the cruel police made the Age delete his fairytale.
Um, ask a libel lawyer and you’ll get a clue.
Staggering failure of logic, Julia. The cops get a call from a store that doesn’t exist and jump into a car to find a man who stole a T-shirt. (As they do.) They then stop a bus, order a suspect to pull down his daks and then take a pic of his arse. Gimme a break. Barry – and you – are lucky the cops didn’t sue.
Like your defence of terrorists it reminds me of Orwell’s rule that there are none so stupid as ‘intellectuals’ – or useful idiots as Lenin called them.
Barry is/was a very good friend of mine but we fell out – his doing – as you will, when Barry gets cross.
Readers may be interested to know that today Barry had a charge of making a false report to police about this incident found proven in the Magistrates Court. The case against him turned on CCTV footage from a bus parked right in front of the interaction with the police officer. An independent witness who saw and heard everything was also pivotal to the truth emerging. That is, the incident as described by Barry simply did not occur. Quite sad, really. No doubt an apology to the police for being unfairly maligned will ensue. Not.
…and Barry was not fined, and a charge of perjury was dismissed.
And yet the entire work of fiction plus your unwarranted comments remain here. Until I read these I was a massive fan of yours. Your admirable passion for justice appears very one sided.
What I wrote was what Barry Dickins told me.
I have known him a long time, and I had no reason not to believe him.
So Julian, apology for the police then? Or are you condoning that “good blokes” actions and subsequently yours? Your meant to be a lawyer “cough” Julian what does the law say about your actions and potential and those of the “good bloke?
I do not know what you are talking about
Knew you wouldn’t add my remark. No credibility mate……
4 November 2017, The AGE: “In March 2017, the writer [Dickins] was found guilty by the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria of making a false report to police”.
Dickins was subsequently placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond.
So… Dickins DID in fact fabricate his story, or at least negatively over-exaggerate the “juicier” bits simply to sell a controversial commentary piece to Fairfax, and for financial reward. No strip search; no story. And Julian Burnside refuses to acknowledge this in order to—presumably—save face. Mr Burnside calls himself a barrister, and should know better. What’s the world coming to when one can’t trust an officer of the court?
I have known Barry Dickins for many years.
I wrote what he had told me. I had no reason not to believe him.
Guess after today’s retraction you’ll be deleting this Mr Burnside? No. Guess not then…
I do not know what you are talking about