Police officer found not guilty of assault during shopping centre scuffle at Batemans Bay

A police officer has been found not guilty of assaulting three girls and a woman while on duty on the NSW far south coast.

Senior Constable Brett David Lindsay faced a hearing in Batemans Bay Local Court on Thursday over the assault allegations.

The case centred around the way the 37-year-old removed people from a scuffle at a shopping centre in Batemans Bay on October 29, 2023, and whether his actions were excessive.

In his decision, Magistrate Michael Love found the Senior Constable not guilty of four counts of common assault.

Magistrate Love said Senior Constable Lindsay's actions were "proportionate to the threat" posed by two 12-year-old girls, a 15-year-old girl and a 48-year-old woman that he removed from the scuffle.

"The clear intention of the accused was to separate all part