'Ungrateful' detective arrested

An off-duty detective was attacked by two police constables after failing to thank them for ignoring his positive breath-test, the High Court has heard.

The pair accepted Det Con Neil Marsh was over the limit because he had been sipping whisky while waiting for help at his stranded car in Rotherham.

But as they drove him home Christopher Isherwood and Martin Tate grew annoyed and arrested him, the Leeds jury heard.

Mr Marsh is claiming compensation for assault and wrongful arrest.

One of the officers pushes a pressure point on his neck and he screams in agony Hugh Tomlinson QC

The 45-year-old is also making a claim for abuse of public office against the chief constable of South Yorkshire.

The court heard how Mr Marsh had drunk between four and five pints of cider during the afternoon at a party in Sheffield before driving home to Rotherham.

Hugh Tomlinson QC, for Mr Marsh, said he was picked up by the two Pcs after his car broke down at a roundabout.

They were driving him to his house when the mood suddenly changed and Pc Isherwood said he "could walk the rest of the way".

Case dropped

Mr Tomlinson said: "Perhaps the reason was that Mr Marsh wasn't showing enough gratitude."

Recalling the build-up to his arrest, Mr Marsh said the officers had repeatedly said he "owed them big time" for what they had done.

After he threatened to lodge a complaint the pair grabbed him, threw him to the floor and wrestled him into handcuffs, he told the jury.

The criminal case against Mr Marsh was eventually dropped in April 2001 - eight months after the incident on 20 September 2000.

Officers 'lied'

Pcs Isherwood and Tate had lied in their statements to detectives and had changed their version of events, Mr Tomlinson told the jury.

The two officers claimed they had arrested Mr Marsh at his car on Sheffield Road and were taking him home to verify his story that it was his wife who had driven his Ford Sierra to that location, Mr Tomlinson said.

In his testimony, Mr Marsh described the officers' statements as "lies", adding: "It was Enid Blyton. It was absolutely ridiculous."

Asked if he had been violent and abusive to the officers at all he replied: "Absolutely not."

The case continues.