KEY POINTS:
The trial of four long-serving Whakatane police officers who have denied assaulting a young man in the town's police station 20 months ago starts this afternoon.
A jury of six men and six women have been assembled in Tauranga District Court with Judge Patrick Treston presiding.
The Crown case opens this afternoon.
In the dock are Sergeant Erle Busby, facing four counts of assault with a blunt instrument (a baton), Sergeant Keith Parsons, who is on three similar charges, and Senior Constable Bruce Laing and Constable John Mills, each on one charge of assault with a baton.
The four accused have been on bail since their first appearance in December 2006. They were suspended from their jobs when criminal charges were laid.
The alleged victim was a 20-year-old Edgecumbe man, reportedly taken into custody on suspicion of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle.
Jury members will be taken to Whakatane later this week to inspect the scene of the alleged prolonged attack.
- NZPA
