Ahmed Dini needed hospital treatment after allegedly being struck in the face by a policeman.
A SOMALI-born youth leader at the centre of race allegations against Victoria Police has vowed to take civil action over what he says was an unprovoked police attack that left him with smashed teeth.
Ahmed Dini, 20, who required hospital treatment after being struck in the face with a heavy torch, announced plans to sue the officer involved last week, following a Melbourne magistrate's ruling that a charge against Mr Dini of hindering police be dismissed.
The alleged police attack on Mr Dini on February 14 last year was one of 13 complaints alleging police brutality and harassment of African youths received by the Office of Police Integrity in the first few months of 2006.
The claims, including allegations of punching, kicking and choking, prompted a secret "ethical health" review of the Flemington Police Station, conducted for the Ethical Standards Department last year by Inspector Mark Doney.
In one of the most shocking cases, a youth alleged that he was punched twice in the head while his face was on the ground. He said a police officer then called him a "black c---" and stood on his head while smoking a cigarette.
The confidential Doney report, part of which was leaked to The Sunday Age last month, questioned the future of a senior sergeant accused by lawyers of running a regime of "racially motivated police violence" against local African youths.
