I have no idea who’s been charged nor any inside information about the case, but I wonder if the accused has really thought through his name suppression application in the case headlined "Senior public servant on assault charges".
"Prosecuting lawyer Paul Dacre told the court the teenage victim had taken credit cards belonging to the defendant’s wife and withdrawn $700 from an ATM, spending $200 of that on a cellphone, cigarettes and a bag.
On finding the victim the defendant grabbed him and walked him back to his car, threatening to break his legs if he tried to run away, Mr Dacre said.
Once in the car he punched the victim five or six times, with one blow hitting him in the head, he said."
If the facts are as alleged and the punches did the "victim" no permanent injury the guy who caught the victim should rise enough in public estimation to outweigh any loss. Why worry about the opinion of the kind of people who would think worse of him.
The consequences of conviction might be serious for his career, but at least he should collect the benefit of public approbation.
Where I work, describing someone before the Court as a ‘public servant’ or ‘civil servant’ is code for ‘police officer’.
The only other reason we usually see for that type of description is where the defendant works in an occupation that touches on criminal justice or the effects of it.