A Police officer has told a court how he heard a pistol fall to the ground as officers restrained a violent suspect.

P.c. Michael Hayles said he saw two detectives struggling with Jason Devon Dill after they pulled him over on Dundonald Street, Hamilton on April 22, 2005.

P.c. Hayles told a Supreme Court trial yesterday that Dill ? who is accused of possessing a firearm ? was on the ground, as was the bike he and a pillion had been riding on. ?This man was kicking out!? said the witness. ?He was punching. He was basically fighting the detectives.?

When P.c Hayles went to help them he said he heard something fall. ?It sounded like metal hitting the concrete,? the witness told Crown Counsel Cindy Clarke. ?It was a solid sound.?

P.c. Hayles added that the defendant continued to struggle violently with Police. He was put in a caged Police vehicle, the court heard, and was still fighting on his way into the car.

The trial has already heard how Dill drove the bike at one of the officers trying to subdue him, Det. Con. Christopher Sabean.

After the arrest, P.c. Hayles said he went back to the spot where the tussle took place, in front of Zig Zag Too clothes shop. He shone his torch on what he said appeared to be a firearm on the ground. A closer look revealed it to be a black 9 mm pistol, he added.

During cross-examination from defence lawyer Charles Richardson, the patrol officer denied a suggestion that by the time he arrived at Dundonald Street the firearm had already fallen to the ground.

?You did not hear it hit the ground,? said Mr. Richardson.

?I disagree totally,? replied the witness.

Dill, of Frog Lane, Devonshire, is accused of possessing a Talon 9 mm semi-automatic pistol without a licence. He is also charged with carrying six live rounds of ammunition without a licence, serious assault against Det. Con. Sabean and violently resisting arrest.

Det. Con. Garic Swainson said Dill seemed to be ?quite agitated? when he saw him in Hamilton Police Station that morning. Dill, who he knew through football circles, said he would only speak to Det. Con. Swainson.

When Dill was asked for the third time who had been on the bike with him, he replied: ?I will do the (prison) time myself.?

As the officer walked away, he said Dill told him he had been giving someone called Scrillas a lift home and that Police should check that name.

Det. Con. Swainson said this apparent nickname, of which no definitive spelling was available in court, meant nothing to him.

Mr. Richardson, referring to the jail claim, said: ?That?s basically a young man saying, ?I will take the blame for something that I did not do???

The detective replied: ?I would disagree.?

Det. Con. Dean Martin told Mr. Richardson that a Kershun Dublin was arrested outside Hamilton Magistrates? Court on May 31, last year on suspicion of possessing a firearm on April 22, last year ? the same charge for which Dill is currently on trial.

Mr. Richardson put it to the detective that Mr. Dublin was arrested because Police suspected he was Dill?s pillion passenger, after his fingerprint was found on a helmet seized from the area of the Dundonald Street struggle.

But Mr. Richardson cast doubt on the reason for Mr. Dublin?s arrest ? and said the print results did not come back until the day after he was held.

The detective, who said he could not answer specific questions about his interview with Mr. Dublin because he had not reviewed it, said Police had information about Mr. Dublin prior to the arrest being made.

The court heard that Mr. Dublin was not charged with any offence.