KEY POINTS:
The victim of an alleged assault by four officers in a police cell was videoed licking the wall, a court was told today.
Rawiri Falwasser, who has claimed he was beaten with batons and repeatedly pepper-sprayed, was today asked in Tauranga District Court what he was doing when he licked the wall in the Whakatane police station.
He replied that he remembered seeing a doctor say that if you lost a lot of blood you should try to consume some to get it back into your system.
The video shown in court also showed Mr Falwasser licking the seat in the cell.
He was asked by the legal team for the police officers what he was doing and he replied: "I have no idea."
He conceded that his behaviour on the night of the alleged assault on Labour Day 2006 had been strange.
Mr Falwasser's father Charles and mother Kihi told the court that their son had no history of mental health problems.
Charles Falwasser also told the court how he had arrived to pick his son up from the police station after the alleged attack to find him caked in blood.
He said: "It was obvious that he had been severely beaten. He was covered with blood. The cell was covered with blood.
"His clothing had been absolutely saturated with it. He was not in fine shape."
Charles Falwasser said his son was cowering in the cell when he arrived.
Defendants Sergeants Keith Parson and Erle Busby, Senior Constable Bruce Laing and Constable John Mills in Whakatane were due to give evidence starting this afternoon.
