A Perth police officer said a colleague headbutted and repeatedly punched him, then stated: “Tell anybody and I will hunt you.”
Constable Douglas Stapleton claims he was assaulted by PC Evan MacDonald at the force’s Barrack Street headquarters in 2023.
It followed an argument about administrative work at the end of a busy nightshift, the officer told a trial at Perth Sheriff Court.
PC MacDonald, 54, denies the allegation and claims he was acting in self-defence.
He is accused of – while performing his duties as a police constable – assaulting PC Stapleton by headbutting him, repeatedly punching him on the head, seizing hold of him by his clothing and pushing him against a wall to his injury on July 25 2023.
‘Right, outside now’
PC Stapleton, 57, said he and probationary officer Zoe Turnbull had returned to the station following a shift in Perth.
He told the court he had a “disagreement” with PC MacDonald about the allocation of a crime report to PC Turnbull.
“My probationer informed me that the report had been put in her basket, which I disagreed with,” said PC Stapleton.
He walked across the open-plan section to speak to PC MacDonald about the issue.
“My demeanour was just my usual,” PC Stapleton told the court.
“I’m a bit of a laid back character. I certainly wasn’t being aggressive.
“I was just looking for an explanation.”
The constable said PC MacDonald was “okay” to start with, explaining he was just about to go off on annual leave.
Asked by fiscal depute Stuart Hamilton if he raised the issue with a superior, PC Stapleton said: “I think I just went back through the other side of the room.”
He said he saw PC MacDonald again just after midnight as he was getting ready to log off.
His demeanour had changed: “He was agitated and angry, I guess.
“He said something along the lines of: ‘Do you not do any paperwork?’
“I said, yes I do.”
PC Stapleton said PC MacDonald then said to him: “Right, outside now.”
“There may have been an expletive or two used as well,” he added.
‘No time to react’
The constable said he followed PC MacDonald as he “marched” towards a door and down a stairwell towards the custody suite.
Asked if he said anything to PC MacDonald, PC Stapleton said: “I may have said something to try and lighten the mood. Something like, ‘make it a good one’.”
At the bottom of the stairs, PC Stapleton followed PC MacDonald through a door.
“As soon as the door closed behind me, he ran at me.
“His head connected with my jaw.”
Mr Hamilton asked: “Did you have time to react?”
PC Stapleton replied: “No.”
He continued: “I fell back against the door and he sort of grabbed me round my arms area, leaning in.”
The constable said he was held for about 10 seconds and “there was a few punches to my head”.
The court was shown video of an incident involving the two men in the corridor.
Asked what he said to PC MacDonald as he walked off, PC Stapleton said: “Something along the lines of ‘you’ve done it this time’.”
The witness said PC MacDonald was “clearly still angry” afterwards.
“He said something like: ‘Tell anybody and I will hunt you’.”
Told sergeant he fell
PC Stapleton said he felt shocked and was left with a sore jaw.
He asked another constable to take a photo of his face, which was reddened.
However, when he spoke to his sergeant about what had happened, he told him: “I’d fallen.”
Asked why he said that, PC Stapleton told the fiscal depute: “Loyalty I guess.
“I don’t want to get a fellow officer into trouble.”
He said PC MacDonald was not acting in self-defence.
Under cross-examination, PC Stapleton denied he had initially called his colleague a “lazy b*****d”.
He also denied telling PC MacDonald as they walked downstairs: “Better give it your best shot you big pr**k.”
Pathologist’s evidence
Questioned about the alleged hits to the head, PC Stapleton told the lawyer: “I can 100% guarantee there were three or four punches thrown.”
The constable said, at the time, he was “adamant” he did not want to make a complaint against his colleague.
“It’s not unusual if you don’t want to get a fellow officer into trouble… but that was taken out of my hands unfortunately.”
The trial also heard from pathologist Professor Anthony Busutti who said “there appears to have been contact between the two heads or the face and the head” albeit with a “limited and minor level of force”.
The trial before Sheriff Alison McKay will continue next month.
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