A man allegedly assaulted by two off duty Merseyside Police officers told a jury they "asked him for cocaine" before beating him while he "cried" in a toilet cubicle.
Jack Bennett was 18 when the alleged assault occurred in Ava's Bar on Renshaw Street, Liverpool City Centre, on July 28, 2020. A jury at Preston Crown Court has heard how a brawl erupted in the bar shortly after 10.37pm between a group of officers, out celebrating a colleague being moved to a new department, and Jack and his older brother Mark Bennett.
PCs Sean Miley, 31, and Paul Grimes, 37, deny assaulting Mr Bennett causing actual bodily harm, while two other officers, PCs John Thompson, 26, and Lucy Donaldson, 40, deny affray in connection with the brawl. All the defendants claim they acted in self-defence.
READ MORE: Policemen 'tipped man's head into filthy toilet in bar brawl', jury told
Today Jack Bennett was called to give evidence and appeared in the witness box, with screens shielding him from the view of the dock and the public gallery. Under questioning from Fiona Clancy, prosecuting, he described how he and his brother Mark had been enjoying a night out in Ava's Bar, where he said Mark was friendly with staff and regulars.
Ms Clancy asked what the atmosphere was like in the bar prior to the incident that evening. Mr Bennett replied: "It was good, we were getting on with everyone, we had our own music on in the bar. Everyone was drinking, everyone was dancing with us in the bar.
"Mark was buying people drinks and everyone was loving it."
However, when asked what happened next, he said: "It was good until it was getting dark outside. A few drunk people came into the bar. They were acting erratically, jumping around, obviously drunk. They were sitting on the table in front of us."
Mr Bennett said the group, which the jury heard included the four defendants, were "ok at first" and appeared to be "enjoying each other's company".
When asked what changed, Mr Bennett became emotional and was asked if he was ok to continue by Judge Elizabeth Nicholls. He told the jury his brother noticed that Miley and Grimes were "staring" and "glaring" over at them, and claimed that the two men had followed him to the bathroom on around two or three occasions before the incident.
He said: "The very last time it happened my brother asked how come they were following me into the toilet every time I went in? I said because they were asking for drugs from me, myself and my brother."
The jury heard on the final occasion John Thompson, Sean Miley, and Paul Grimes were in the area outside the cubicle of the female toilet, which was being used for both genders as the male toilet was out of order that evening, while Mr Bennett was inside.
He said: "I was just fixing my hair in the mirror, they came in [the cubicle] asking for cocaine. Obviously my reply was I don't have none, I don't do that stuff. As soon as I said that they started to get a bit erratic and aggressive."
Mr Bennett said as he left the toilet, his brother, Mark Bennett, came over and asked whether he was ok. He said he told his brother the men had asked for drugs, and Mark Bennett spoke to Miley and repeated that they did not have any.
He told the jury: "As I was walking out the toilet my brother asked if there's a problem with them and me. They obviously replied 'no'. "As soon as my brother went to shake their hand, the stocky lad [Thompson] came from behind, shouted 'come here' and put his hand around my brother's neck.
"I said leave my brother alone, and tried to split it apart. I was then grabbed from behind and pulled into the cubicle on the left, which was out-of-order. He came from behind and grabbed me by the neck and had me in a head-lock, he pulled me into the toilet."
When asked what happened inside the cubicle, he said: "As he pulled me into the toilet one of his group ran in after and was holding the door while he was repeatedly punching me, and then my head got pushed into a toilet full of faeces."
Mr Bennett said "at that point I thought I was going to die", and said his head was slammed so hard into the ceramic of the toilet that it cracked apart. He told the jury he was left folded on top of it with his head beneath his legs in a "forward roll" type position.
Mr Bennett said at one stage he felt a sharp pain in his lower right leg, a couple of inches above the ankle. He said he saw Miley holding a shard of broken ceramic from the toilet, and later saw it on the floor covered in blood, and believed he had been "stabbed" in the leg.
He told the jury: "They were both laughing, one took their watch off and repeatedly punched me in the face while I was crying." He described being pulled to his feet and punched about the face and ribs again.
The jury heard as the alleged beating was ongoing, a blonde woman opened the door and told the two officers "to stop", however Mr Bennett said one of the men "kicked the door shut in her face". The jury were yesterday shown CCTV confirming that Lucy Donaldson had opened the door during the time the three men were in the cubicle, which was calculated as around one minute and 30 seconds.
Mr Bennett said the two men stopped beating him when another man opened the door, who the jury had been told was fellow officer and witness Steven Auguste. When asked what he did next, Mr Bennett said: "I looked at myself in the mirror. I had blood all over my face and cuts on my eye.
"I had pain in my leg, the blood was just pouring out of my leg. I felt nauseous, I had pain in my ribs and I could not breathe properly."
Mr Bennett said he then walked out of the toilet area, and saw his brother Mark Bennett "being attacked" by John Thompson. He said: "There was just a big brawl in the bar, everyone was in there and people were just trying to calm the situation down.
"[Mark Bennett] was in front of the bar and I could just see him getting strangled. The one that was big [Thompson], who had been in the toilet with me, had his hands around his neck. After being beaten up and thinking I was going to die, I thought my brother was going to get seriously hurt."
Describing feeling like he was "fighting for me brother's life", Mr Bennett said: "I picked up a glass from the side and struck the man [Thompson] on the back of the head. I was fighting for my brother's life, I thought he was going to get the same as what I got."
Mr Bennett said the blow sent Thompson to the floor and his brother ran out of the bar. He then turned around and went back into the toilet area to "get away from the situation", before being let out of a back door by a man he believed was the bar owner.
He said he called his sister, Kelsey Bennett, in tears and told her he had been badly hurt and stabbed. Mr Bennett, who at this stage had no shoes on, walked to the Concert Square area and was picked up by Miss Bennett, who took him to the Royal Liverpool Hospital.
By the time he reached the hospital, he said: "I was in shock, I was distraught. I felt violated. I had human faeces all over me; I smelled like a sewer. The jury were shown photos of Mr Bennett's injuries, which included swelling to his ear and eye, cuts above his eye, scratches on his arms and chest, and a wound on his leg which had required stitches.
The jury were also shown a photo of the toilet cubicle, which showed the toilet bowl shattered into pieces.
Charlotte Rimmer, representing Paul Grimes, began cross-examining Mr Bennett. Under questioning he confirmed he had initially been charged with wounding Thompson, and was due to stand trial before the charges were dropped.
The jury heard that because he was initially a defendant, he had been served with the prosecution evidence including statements from the officers and the CCTV footage. Ms Rimmer asked if he "tried to make his witness statement fit in with what the CCTV showed?".
Mr Bennett said he had not. Ms Rimmer highlighted that Mr Bennett had not agreed to waive his legal privilege, which would have allowed the jury to hear what had been discussed between him and his legal team prior to his charges being dropped.
She asked if there was information in notes and recordings of those discussions that he "didn't want the jury to hear?". Mr Bennett replied "no".
Mr Bennett told the jury he did not realise the men who allegedly assaulted him were police officers until December 2020, when he was interviewed by detectives on suspicion of assaulting Thompson.
Cross examination will continue tomorrow.
READ NEXT:
First pictures of man and woman charged after Concert Square videos shared
Suspected drunk driver flips Bentley crashing into traffic lights
Mum stepped out shower to find ex-boyfriend and gang in her house
Vile carer caught stealing on CCTV after family became suspicious
From fugitive to MMA star: The Toxteth man who wowed fight crowds while wanted by Merseyside Police
