Few people would volunteer for a role built around being attacked by police dogs. Yet that was the job former Victoria Police Dog Squad Sergeant Hayden Bodycomb says he performed for years.
Bodycomb claims the work caused lasting physical and psychological harm, leaving him permanently unable to work.
He has now launched legal action in the Supreme Court of Victoria, alleging the state failed to protect him from serious injury while he was serving with the force.
The 50-year-old filed a writ and statement of claim on October 9. Unless the dispute is settled, the case is expected to proceed to trial in Melbourne.
The lawsuit comes only weeks after the Daily Mail reported that Victoria Police was facing mounting civil complaints, including allegations of widespread bullying by senior officers.
Bodycomb’s case centres on his work as a police dog decoy — the person who impersonates a fleeing or violent offender so dogs can be trained to pursue, bite and restrain a suspect.
According to the court documents, taking part in that training was a condition of his employment.
The claim alleges Bodycomb was subjected to “repeated attacks by police dogs”, which often sent him crashing heavily to the ground.
Former Victoria Police Dog Squad Sergeant Hayden Bodycomb (pictured) says he was attacked by police dogs as part of his job, alleging the experience caused serious physical and psychological injuries
The statement of claim outlines three principal types of decoy training Bodycomb was required to undertake.
In some exercises, he wore a bite suit — protective equipment designed to shield the body from a dog’s jaws — while the animals were trained in scenarios intended to replicate real muzzle attacks.
In other drills, Bodycomb allegedly wore no bite suit, although the dogs were fitted with muzzles and the exercises continued to simulate genuine attacks.
The decoy duties also involved repeated lifting, twisting and other forms of manual handling, the claim states.
Bodycomb further alleges he was exposed to “repetitive force and strikes” affecting his neck and lower back.
He claims the cumulative impact left him with protruding discs in his lower back and neck, persistent pain, restricted movement, surgical scarring and neurological symptoms.
The former officer also alleges he developed chronic anxiety, depression, irritability, disrupted sleep and an adjustment disorder.
The documents allege those responsible for the training — including the Chief Commissioner or, alternatively, Inspector James Duggan and Senior Sergeant Paul Morgan — failed to provide adequate risk assessments, supervision, instruction and rotation of duties.
A police decoy is attacked by a dog during a training exercise, shown in this stock image of a Belgian police dog biting a professional decoy outdoors
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Bodycomb’s claim alleges there was no proper system for monitoring his health and that concerns he raised about the work were ignored.
It also alleges Victoria Police failed to provide suitable facilities for conditioning dogs to attack people safely.
In one of the more striking allegations, the claim suggests disciplinary complaints were fabricated against him. The document gives no further detail.
He further alleges breaches of workplace safety regulations on hazardous manual handling, including a failure to use mechanical aids or alter the system of work.
The action is being spearheaded by top legal firm Maurice Blackburn, which declined to comment when contacted by the Mail.
The claim states Bodycomb was earning $142,772 a year before tax when he last worked.
He has been incapacitated for all employment and will remain so permanently, his lawyers have submitted.
While Bodycomb’s medical costs have been covered by WorkCover, he holds a serious injury certificate that allows him to sue for damages for pain and suffering and loss of earning capacity.
Decoys are routinely bitten by ferocious dogs as part of their training (stock image from a police demonstration in Thailand in 2014)
Police dogs attend the home of mushroom killer Erin Patterson in November 2023
He is seeking unspecified damages, with the matter to be decided by a judge alone.
In May, Bodycomb made headlines when he was found guilty of dragging a colleague along the road and resisting arrest at a police station.
Police had stopped Bodycomb on Bungower Road in Somerville on October 4, 2023, and asked him to hand over his phone and exit his vehicle.
He refused and said to police: ‘How about you guys f**k off?’, the Herald Sun reported then.
He then dragged Detective Senior Sergeant Jens Bertelsen along the road while driving away when the latter put one hand inside Bodycomb’s Holden Colorado to try to switch off the ignition.
Bodycomb, who had resigned from Victoria Police, was twice commended for bravery and promoted to sergeant in 2016.
He appeared for sentencing in the County Court of Victoria in July, where Judge Geoff Chettle convicted and fined him $25,000.