Two Merseyside Police officers are on trial accused of forcing a man into a toilet cubicle, punching him repeatedly in the face and then tipping him upside down into a dirty toilet bowl.
PCs Sean Miley, 31, and Paul Grimes, 37, who were off duty at the time, are also alleged to have smashed the man's head so hard against the toilet that it broke. Miley allegedly then used a shard of broken ceramic from the shattered toilet to cause a laceration to the leg of the complainant, Jack Bennett, during a brawl in Ava's Bar on Renshaw Street, Liverpool City Centre.
The officers are standing trial at Preston Crown Court accused of assaulting Mr Bennett causing actual bodily harm, leaving him bloodied and bruised and requiring hospital treatment. Two of their colleagues, PCs John Thompson, 26, and Lucy Donaldson, 40, are also in the dock accused of affray in relation to the brawl, on July 28, 2020, shortly after lockdown restrictions were eased. The officers deny the charges.
