Sentences slashed for officers who stomped and pepper sprayed Sydney woman

The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal cut the sentences on Monday, and both men could be out of prison as early as next year. Nathan Black's maximum term of five years nine months was reduced to three years two months, with his non-parole period ending in September 2027. Timothy Trautsch's maximum of five years six months was brought down to three years, making him eligible for parole in August 2027. Both had been jailed in August 2025.

The court ruled the original sentencing judge made an error by finding the assault was aggravated by "gratuitous cruelty", because the brutality of the violence had already been weighed into its seriousness — creating a risk of "double counting". The judges kept the finding that the officers' misuse of pepper spray was gratuitously cruel, and held their common assaults sat "at the top of the range" of objective seriousness.

Justice Hament Dhanji said the officers showed a "shocking lack of humanity" towards Ms Knott, and that they abused their position of authority. Police had been responding to a Triple Zero call about a naked woman sitting beside the road at Emu Plains. The court found the officers grew impatient and frustrated trying to get her into an ambulance before turning to "needless violence", a problem Justice Dhanji described as one of their own making through their impatience, failure to call for help and "impoverished understanding" of psychosis.

The appeal judges also found the men had shown remorse and accepted their custody had been "more onerous" because of their former police employment and mental health conditions. Both had been threatened by inmates and were "extremely fearful", the court heard. Ms Knott was dragged by her hair, kicked, stomped on and repeatedly pepper sprayed during the 2023 attack. She died of cancer 18 months later, in 2024.

Her cousin Nichole Allen said the family was "gutted" by the decision. "It's heart-wrenching… a real kick in her guts," she said. Body-worn camera footage of the assault featured in an ABC Four Corners investigation into NSW policing, in which Ms Knott's relatives pushed for reform of how police handle people in acute mental illness. In July, the NSW government introduced a health-led response model for mental health emergencies, moving away from police-led intervention. "She's been let down but hopefully it will be safer for other people going forward," Ms Allen said.