A Policeman has been accused of punching a man twice in the face knocking out two teeth as he apprehended the victim.

Appearing at Magistrates? Court, Police officer Glynn Kellman denied a charge of assault causing grievous bodily harm to Eversley Zuill after he and another officer had pinned Mr. Zuill to the ground.

The incident happened in February 2005 when two Police officers in a patrol car stopped in front of Mr. Zuill?s stationary car in North Shore Road, Hamilton Parish, near Shelly Bay Market Place and a confrontation occurred as he was taken from his car.

Crown prosecutor Paula Tyndale said Mr. Zuill resisted as Kellman attempted to remove his car keys.

?He was seeking clarification as to why he was being accosted. He exited the vehicle after which he was grabbed by (Kellman). He resisted and continued to seek clarification as to why he was being accosted,? she told the court.

?(Kellman) grabbed hold of him and they both fell to the ground.?

Ms Tyndale said Kellman and another Police officer restrained Mr. Zuill on the ground at which point Kellman ?applied two forceful blows to the front of the complainant?s face, directly to his mouth,? which caused him to lose two teeth.

Ms Tyndale said the Crown intended to prove that the punches were unreasonable force and were not applied in the execution of the officer?s duty and, even if they had been, the application of such force in the circumstances was excessive.

A pastor friend of Mr. Zuill who happened to be driving past the scene as the incident unfolded told the court he went to assist and witnessed the Police officer punch Mr. Zuill twice in the mouth as he lay on the ground.

Pastor Ronald Smith explained he had been following a police car when he saw it pull across the road and stop in front of a Mr. Zuill?s stationary car.

It was mid-morning and Mr. Smith said he recognised Mr. Zuill was being ?helped? out of his car by one of the two Police officers. He decided to stop his car because he suspected there would be a confrontation and wanted to assist calm matters down as he knew Mr. Zuill.

Mr. Smith said two police officers got out of the patrol car, one was a black officer and one was a white officer. The black officer (Kellman) ran to the driver?s side of Mr. Zuill?s car and reached into the car, he said.

He said Mr. Zuill appeared to be resisting the officer as he was taken out of his car and was ?throwing his arms up as if trying to get the Police officer to back-off?.

He said: ?Because I knew him I felt I could help the situation and ran from my car towards the officers and Mr. Zuill. I was calling to Mr. Zuill to get him to stop resisting because by the time I got there the Police officer was trying to get him down on the ground.?

According to Mr. Smith, Mr. Zuill and then Kellman fell to the ground and he went down as well in order to help restrain Mr. Zuill.

?My purpose was to hold him down and to talk to him to tell him to stop, relax and cool it ? to calm down,? he said.

He told the court that Kellman was holding Mr. Zuill by the legs, he was holding his arm and the other officer was holding Mr. Zuill down by his shoulders and neck area.

According to Mr. Smith, Mr. Zuill had by this point stopped resisting and he was talking to him when ?all of a sudden the black Police officer hit him (Mr. Zuill) twice in his mouth with his fist.?

Immediately afterwards he saw one of Mr. Zuill?s teeth lying on the ground.

The court was told that Mr. Zuill was handcuffed and taken in a Police car for hospital treatment immediately afterwards.

In cross-examination defence lawyer Allan Doughty asked Mr. Smith why he had said, in a signed Police statement the day after the incident, that he had seen Mr. Zuill punch Police officer Kellman.

Mr. Smith said he could not recall that ever happening and had no idea why it was in the statement which he had signed. He admitted that as a crowd of onlookers started shouting at Kellman in the aftermath of the incident he had gone over to the Police officer and said: ?You did what you felt you needed to do.?

Later in the trial, Mr. Zuill rejected a suggestion from Mr. Doughty that after he got out of the car he had struck Kellman twice in the face.

The trial continues today.