A MET Police officer has been accused of rugby tackling a Wetherspoons drinker to the ground and battering him over the head with his baton.
PC Jack Wood, 26, has denied assaulting Jake Smith, 26, who suffered a gaping gash to his skull and severe bruising during the clash in Romford, Essex.
PC Wood and his colleague PC Archie Payne, 26, have also been accused of assaulting Smith's friend Scott Rooney, 26, who claims he was grabbed by the throat and thrown to the ground.
Shocking CCTV footage shown to the court captured the moment one of the cops hits Smith over the head and a second grabs Rooney's throat, pushes him to the wall and lies on top of him.
Rooney, a railway engineer, claims he was the victim of an "unprovoked attack" on January 5 last year after trying to take a picture of PC Wood and his officer number.
Smith, 26, suffered two wounds to his head – 1.5cm and 1cm in length – and 6cm of bruising to his chest, the court heard.
Prosecutor Nicola Shannon told the court there had been an argument between Rooney and another pub-goer, prompting two security guards to ask them to leave.
Shannon said they stayed for one more drink but realised the man they had clashed with was lurking outside with a number of others.
The group were stood between the pub and the bus stop that Rooney, who lived locally, wanted to get to.
The pair asked PC Wood and PC Payne, who were outside the pub on patrol, to escort them to the bus stop past the group, the court heard.
"The officers declined to do so, telling the group if he was their friend it's not their responsibility to help, and returned to their patrol duties," Shannon said.
"Mr Rooney was attacked by the group… but shortly after that PC Wood ran into the scene, came behind Mr Smith raised his baton and inflicted between three to four strikes."
"PC Wood appears to go from right to left with the baton held above his head in an overarm motion, bringing it down towards Mr Smith", the prosecutor said.
'NO CASE TO ANSWER'
PC Payne is seen on the footage making a "kicking motion" at Smith while he was on the ground.
Defending PC Wood, Robert Morris said Smith and his pal were binge drinking for ten hours and then "rugby tackled" other punters outside the pub.
He claimed there was "no case to answer" and said the officer only acted as legally permitted to stop the bust-up.
"By the time that PC Payne and PC Wood were running towards the group, Smith was on his feet and was aggressively moving towards the group," Morris told the court.
"Not on his back, unable to defend himself. His actions were plainly to rugby tackle an individual who was at some distance."
He added: "Not content with that, Mr Smith throws himself against a woman who was not involved in either group and who seems to have wandered into the melee and she is then knocked to the floor.
"What is plain, is that any reasonable person entering that situation would have reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Smith has committed offences of assault and affray."
Morris said PC Wood did not run into the fight with the baton in hand – instead he took a "measured approach and acted proportionately".
"If he were simply to sit back and do nothing, he would be criticised," Morris said.
"In my submission, Mr Wood entered the affray properly, used force that he was permitted to use and the struggling only stopped when the baton was used."
'AT LEAST TWO STRIKES'
While PC Payne and a colleague had their body-worn cameras activated, PC Wood did not activate his until later, the prosecutor said.
Smith was treated in an ambulance and the cops returned to arrest him for affray – but the charge was later dropped, the court heard.
PC Payne, also based at Romford Police Station, denies one count of common assault against Rooney.
District Judge Tempia said she would not accept "there was no case to answer" and ruled she would hear evidence from the two officers.
"In this case what we have is a police officer who says he was using reasonable force in order to stop the melee that he says was occurring and that he was justified in what he did," the judge said.
"It is very clear in the evidence that I have seen on CCTV and Mr Smith's own evidence is that he says there were at least two strikes to the back of the head. Therefore I will need to hear evidence from PC Wood."
PC Wood, based at Romford Police Station, denies one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Scott and one count of assault by beating against Rooney.
PC Payne, also based at Romford Police Station, denies one count of common assault against Rooney.
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