POLICE officers defended themselves against allegations of brutality and dishonesty when they appeared in court this week.

CCTV footage of Cleveland Police officers arresting Thornaby man Darran Dunford and his then partner, Leigh Leach, was central to a civil court case heard at Teesside Crown Court.

The case was brought by the pair after an internal investigation by Cleveland Police exonerated officers involved, despite the IPCC upholding complaints against the force.

Mr Dunford had been arrested after shouting and swearing at officers responding to reports of a man being drunk and disorderly in Stockton High Street in August 2013.

The situation escalated when officers attempted to get him into their car – Mr Dunford said there was an “accidental clash of heads” but Cleveland Police maintain he headbutted two officers, a charge he later pleaded guilty to.

He was removed from the vehicle and pinned down by several officers before being struck in the face, repeatedly punched and kneed, with his face pressed to the ground.

During the incident, Ms Leach was allegedly “taken to the ground” and arrested by PC Gareth Humphrey, in a manoeuvre that exposed her underwear.

On Thursday, PC Humphrey told the court that she had fallen over and that he did not feel comfortable helping to adjust her clothing as he was a man. He also denied calling Ms Leach “filth” and “vermin” and said he acted to prevent further interference with Mr Dunford’s arrest.

Drunk and disorderly charges against Ms Leach were later thrown out when it was proved that PC Humphrey’s witness statement was inconsistent with the CCTV footage.

Ms Leach denied exaggerating her own account and said officers behaved “as if they were going for someone with a bomb or a weapon”.

Representing the pair, Elliot Gold accused PC Humphrey of deliberately lying in his statement, suggesting that he and other officers acted aggressively because they were furious over Mr Dunford assaulting their colleague.

He said: “People who assault police, police bashers, are considered by rank and file officers to be despicable.”

Mr Gold highlighted inconsistencies between officers’ accounts of the arrest and made accusations of dishonesty as officers denied conferring with each other on statements found to be almost identical.

The court heard that the force’s legal services department had issued a template statement to some of those involved.

He accused officers of collaborating to cover up police “heavy handedness” by encouraging the only independent witness to leave the scene without sharing his details and by suggesting Mr Dunford’s injuries had been self-inflicted during transport to custody.

All officers who took to the stand denied dishonesty and maintained that their conduct and the use of force throughout had been appropriate, claiming that Mr Dunford and Ms Leach were abusive, violent and resisting arrest.

PC Thomas McCloud said: “It is not a regular occurrence seeing an officer laid out on the ground and there are certain triggers in memory that enable you to recall certain incidents, this sticks very clearly in my mind.

“There was nothing improper in the officers’ acts, I did not see anything improper at the time and I do not now.”

The judge, Recorder Neil Cameron, will make his decision later this year.