Cop reveals why he reported officers over Starling

Kurt Hayward – A former NSW police officer says he blew the whistle on fellow officers after watching CCTV from a December 2020 incident in which NRL hooker Tom Starling was allegedly bashed, while police later charged him with assaulting four officers. The officer—Detective

Detective Sergeant Kurt Hayward watched the CCTV the next day and felt his stomach drop.

The former NSW police officer, who served for 23 years, said he saw Sergeant Evan Huw Prowse and Senior Constable Steven Lockwood Brown allegedly assault NRL hooker Tom Starling during the December 2020 chaos at Shady Palms restaurant on the NSW Central Coast.

Starling. then attending a 21st birthday with family. was at the centre of the confrontation after his mother was allegedly insulted by a security guard. What followed was described as a wild brawl—one in which Starling was restrained while police officers allegedly struck him. yet prosecutors still charged him with assault.

Hayward said he saw Prowse allegedly punch Starling at least twice, before Constable Brown also allegedly hit him. He decided he had to report what he saw, even though he expected consequences.

In court, Starling was later cleared of all charges stemming from the brawl.

Hayward’s reaction, he said, was immediate and visceral. When he began drafting the report for his superiors, he described it as career suicide.

“So I sat and pondered for a little while and then started to write the career suicide note,” Hayward said.

He told the police’s crime manager about the footage and the manager initially said Starling was resisting arrest. Hayward then reported the incident to his boss, who watched the footage with him. Days later, Hayward wrote to the police commissioner, and an investigation was launched.

But Hayward’s decision didn’t end with the paperwork. Once he was appointed as the officer in charge of the Starling matter, he was instructed to withdraw most of the charges against the Canberra Raiders forward.

He said he believed he was doing the right thing. Still, he claimed he faced blowback from colleagues after the report—stating that peers at Gosford Police Station effectively blacklisted him and that some even left anonymous notes on his desk.

The fallout, he said, was deep enough that he quit the force 18 months later. He also said he remains angry with NSW Police.

“There’s nothing more hypocritical than someone in that position doing those things. You should be arresting people who do that, not doing it yourself,” Hayward said.

While Hayward’s account focuses on what he saw on screen, Starling’s legal fight tells a different story of how the case was played out in court. Starling was originally hit with seven charges, including five counts of assaulting police, affray, and attempting to take an officer’s gun.

In early 2023, a magistrate dismissed the final charges against Starling and ruled that police breached their duty and “assaulted” him. Prowse and Brown were charged with common assault, both pleaded not guilty, and their trial is due to start next week.

Starling says he still plans to sue NSW Police, but when the dummy-half thinks back on what happened, his priority wasn’t just the battered face—he said he wanted to get back on the field.

He described the legal battle as exhausting and said it was difficult to keep showing up while trying to protect his public image. “It was hard to show up sometimes, put that brave face on and pretend like it wasn’t affecting me, but 100 per cent it was,” Starling said.

He said he also felt how other people viewed him at games. “I used to go to games and just think everyone was thinking, ‘Oh, there’s that thug Tom Starling that assaulted police officers’ and did all those things that they said about me.”

For Starling, the physical violence was one part of the ordeal; the stain of allegations was another. And even after being cleared, he said it still took time to shake the impact.

The financial cost has also landed heavily on taxpayers. The NSW Police Force incurred a record $40 million in settlements and legal costs last financial year. with the taxpayer-funded payouts coming from civil claims against officers for serious allegations including wrongful arrest. unlawful searches. and malicious prosecution.

Within that wider bill, Hayward’s account adds a sharp human dimension: a decision to report colleagues, a belief that he was being made to stand alone, and a conviction that the system he served should have acted differently the moment CCTV became undeniable.

Tom Starling Canberra Raiders NSW Police Kurt Hayward Evan Huw Prowse Steven Lockwood Brown Gosford Police Station Shady Palms restaurant NRL brawl CCTV settlements court