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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Jordyn Beazley

Woman illegally strip-searched by NSW police ‘reasonably thought’ officers would call her a liar, judge says

A police sniffer dog on a leash stands among people's legs on grass at an outdoor event
The state of NSW admitted in May 2025 to unlawfully strip-searching Raya Meredith at the Splendour in the Grass music festival in 2018. Photograph: Regi Varghese/AAP

The woman awarded $93,000 after an illegal strip-search by NSW police thought until “just before” the trial that she would be called a liar in the proceedings by the officers who conducted the search.

This was despite the officers submitting statements 12 months before her appearance that they had no recollection of the woman or the search, a court was told on Friday.

Lawyers acting for the woman, Raya Meredith, and 6,000 music festivalgoers appeared before the NSW court of appeal on Friday in the final day of a two-day hearing where NSW is seeking leave to appeal after losing a class action over unlawful strip-searches conducted at music festivals between 2018 and 2022.

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