A police officer is facing criminal charges after an arrested man's neck was broken in a police van.
Constable Timothy Hesketh, 27, appeared in the Palmerston North District Court charged with reckless disregard causing grievous bodily harm.
Mark Edwards, 46, of Marton is in Christchurch's Burwood Spinal Unit,
where he is learning to walk again.
The court was told he was arrested in November for trespassing in Palmerston North after a domestic dispute.
He was handcuffed from behind and, after an incident in a police van, suffered cuts to his eye, a split lip and two broken vertebrae.
He then spent nine hours in a police cell before being examined by a doctor and taken to hospital.
District commander Superintendent Russell Gibson said an Independent Police Conduct Authority investigation had found there were sufficient grounds to criminally prosecute Hesketh.
"It [the charge] carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years," he said.
Mr Edwards said that at the time of his arrest he was drunk and admitted he had been giving "earache" to Hesketh, one of five arresting officers.
He was glad the police officer was being prosecuted but did not believe his neck was broken on purpose.
Hesketh did not plead and will reappear on March 11.
- NZPA
