Police have been found to have unlawfully detained an intoxicated man after an appeal court ruled a barbecue area in a unit complex was not a public space.

An ACT Supreme Court judgment, published on Thursday, November 20, found that Dieu Samuel Gonyley "was effectively in an area akin to a backyard or courtyard of a private residence" when he was brought into custody for being drunk and disorderly in a public place.

Gonyley was arrested in November 2023 after police attended a barbecue area in Jerilderie Court, a unit complex in Reid, in response to an alleged fight and assault.

He was arrested on suspicion of committing an assault and placed in the back of a caged police vehicle, but when witnesses did not provide statements to police, officers determined he was no longer under arre

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