Do they learn this at Hendon?

ASSAULT TRIAL PC CLAIMS SELF-DEFENCE
RHIANNON BEACHAM - 03 November 2007

A Traffic cop accused of repeatedly punching a Swansea Valley motorist while he was in the back of a police car claims he acted in self-defence.

Robert Davies was pulled over by Constable Stephen Dance and a fellow officer Constable Paul Jones at Seven Sisters, near Neath.

He gave a positive breath test and was put in the back of the marked police car, and Dance got in with him to handcuff him. During a 20-minute incident, which was captured by the car's internal audio recording equipment, Mr Davies says Dance assaulted him.

Dance denies assault and claims that his colleague on the night, Constable Jones, "deliberately falsified" a new statement against him because of a grievance.

Giving evidence at Newport Crown Court yesterday, Dance, aged 38, said that he stopped the car and got in the back to handcuff Mr Davies after he became verbally aggressive.

He said that a struggle ensued and that when Mr Davies gouged one of his eyes he hit him."I punched him twice to the side of the head, bearing in mind he's got his thumb in my eye," he said."No-one in their right mind would jump into the back of a patrol car to have a fight with somebody. It's ludicrous."Jones, aged 32, who originally gave the same version of events, has since claimed that Dance was the aggressor.

He faces a charge of perverting the course of justice.Philip Marshall, defending Jones, put it to Dance that he got into the back of the car because Mr Davies had called the two officers "f****** t****".

"The truth of the matter is that he took exception to him calling you and Constable Jones "t****" and you decided to go in the back and give him a seeing to," Mr Marshall said.Dance replied: "I took exception to the fact he hadn't been handcuffed and Paul hadn't done his job properly."

Asked by Mr Marshall why he said: "I'll rip your f****** head off", before getting in the back of the car, Dance said it was to diffuse the situation.

Asked if he had remembered the tape was recording, Dance replied: "Absolutely.

"He said he wanted to handcuff Mr Davies for the safety of everyone in the high-powered BMW, in case he nudged him while he was driving.

The court heard that Dance said to Mr Davies's girlfriend, who had been in the van with him, "F*** off bitch, now." When Mr Davies told Dance not to call his girlfriend names, the court heard, the officer responded by saying: "You're going to f****** have it large you t***."

**I see a future in customer services for this chap, nice to see that he has a lot of respect for the public that he deals with.

Dance said he wanted Mr Davies's girlfriend out of the way so Jones could assist him, and that "have it large" meant "go to jail".

**As opposed to the Welsh saying of giving a chap a damn fine kicking.

He said that when Mr Davies was heard asking "is that the best you've got?" it was because he was trying to push him into the footwell of the car and not because he was punching him.Dance said: "I could have punched him, by common law I was justified to defend myself."

Asked by Ieuan Bennett, prosecuting, why he had been swearing, Dance said: "I only used bad language as a tactic to regain control of the situation."

**Rather than using a respectful tone with members of the public as their training advises them.

Mr Davies, of Abercrave, near Neath, suffered cuts and bruises to his face and made a complaint to South Wales police which was investigated by the force's professional standards department. He was never prosecuted for the drink-drive offence.

**Thats strange as he was supposedly a drunk driver?

It is the prosecution's case that the two officers later made false statements to cover themselves. Dance denies causing actual bodily harm and perverting the course of justice. Jones denies perverting the course of justice.

The case continues.
Tags:Policing
Swansea
Robert Davies
Constable Stephen Dance
Constable Paul Jones
Have it large

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