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A victim of the controversial taser stun gun is lodging an
official complaint, after he says police used it on him without
warning.
Edward Savaii was shot twice with the 50,000-volt taser and he
claims he has suffered ongoing health problems since.
"I didn't hear no word about 'stop I've got a taser, I'm about to shoot ya,' she just pulled the trigger," he says.
Savaii says he woke up in a police car wondering where he was. "I asked him what's going on? I had sore kidneys, a sore liver, my body felt like a fried egg basically."
He admits he deserved to be arrested after a confrontation at his former partner's home and is now defending assault and weapons charges, but says he did not deserve to be tasered.
"They had enough manpower there that they didn't have to taser us - not twice anyway. But I think they made the call and that's the call they went with," he says.
A fortnight later, he says he is still feeling the
effects.
"I still have chest pains and cramps. I have stomach pain
and I also have a sore lower back."
Now he is filing a complaint with the Police Complaints
Authority.
"They over-stepped the mark, they wanted to try a toy and they
tried it."
Taser opponents agree.
"The government needs to step in and stop the trial before someone gets killed, as has happened overseas," Green MP Keith Locke says.
Police would not comment now the matter is being investigate, but they have previously said Savaii brought the tasering on himself by resisting arrest and ignoring warnings.
