Policeman says Aboriginal man on assault charge did not throw punch A POLICE officer has admitted a young Aboriginal man accused of assaulting police never threw a punch, reversing his earlier claim. Constable Luke Mewing took the witness stand today at the Police Integrity Commission, which is looking into the alleged assault of Corey Barker, 24, by five officers and accusations that he assaulted one of them. Mr Barker was charged with punching Senior Constable David Hill while in custody at Ballina police station, on the NSW north coast, in January 2011. "That evidence was just wrong, wasn't it?" counsel assisting the PIC hearing Stephen Rushton, SC, said. "I guess so," Const Mewing said. "You knew that it was wrong when you gave it," Mr Rushton said. I believed it at the time that I saw (the incident). Const Mewing made a written statement and gave evidence in Ballina Local Court saying Mr Barker had punched his colleague. Mr Barker was charged with assaulting police and other charges relating to his attempt to intervene in a violent street confrontation between two of his friends and police. After his arrest, the officers claimed he punched Sen Const Hill while they were walking him from a holding cage to a cell at the rear of the station. The PIC has been told CCTV footage does not bear out that version of events, but it does show the officers slamming Mr Barker into a wall and wrestling him to the ground where he was kicked and kneed. Const Mewing was not shown the CCTV footage, which was previously thought to be damaged, before he made his written statement or gave evidence in the local court. Do you now accept that, in fact, the CCTV shows Mr Barker did not assault Sen Const Hill? Mr Rushton asked. "Yes, I do now," he replied.