A Tayside police officer accused of assaulting a suspect inside a tent should never have been put in that situation, a court has heard.
Detective Constable Craig Kelly said specialist officers with “better training and better equipment” should have been sent to arrest the man they had been warned had a history of violence.
Mr Kelly was giving evidence during the trial of Dean Miller, who denies assaulting Anthony Davies inside a tent at Seaton Caravan Park in Arbroath on June 18 2010.
Mr Kelly told the court that he, Miller and a third officer, Gareth Irons, were sent into the tent to arrest Davies after a briefing that emphasised the suspect’s violent nature.
He recalled: “We were briefed that there were two males from Liverpool who had been involved in an armed robbery and that they had fled (to Scotland) because they were wanted by police.
“We were told these males may be violent and have access to weapons.”
He said Davies was sleeping when they entered the tent and he attempted to place handcuffs on him where a struggle then took place.
“As soon as I placed a cuff on his right hand, he woke up and put both arms inside the sleeping bag,” he continued.
“Immediately when the punch landed Davies took his arms out of the sleeping bag and brought them to his face to defend himself. We were then able to handcuff him and bring him under control.”
The court heard an axe was later found under the sleeping bag.
Under cross examination Mark Stewart QC asked whether in retrospect it was the most “clever or sensible” decision to send the officers to make the arrests, rather than specialist officers, given the briefing that emphasised their violent nature.
Mr Kelly replied: “In my opinion, I don’t think we should have been sent to make the arrests.”
Miller, 29, who is no longer a police officer, denies assaulting Davies by repeatedly punching him on the face and has lodged a special defence of self-defence.
The Crown is no longer seeking a conviction that Miller attempted to pervert the course of justice by omitting details of the assault in his police report.
The trial, heard in front of Sheriff Gregor Murray, continues next month.