it's my rights, innit...

Newport Crown Court has been hearing the intriguing case of a man who allegedly got in the back of a police car with a man he had arrested on suspicion of drink driving and punched him 'repeatedly'.

The court heard how there was an audiotape machine fitted to the car which recorded the whole incident. The defendant says that he was acting in self defence as the arrested man 'had his thumb in his eye'. This is my favourite bit:

Asked by Mr Marshall why he said: "I'll rip your fucking head off", before getting in the back of the car, Pc Dance said it was to diffuse the situation.

That's what I do when I try to defuse a situation.

Asked if he had remembered the tape was recording, Pc Dance replied: "Absolutely."

Asked by Ieuan Bennett, prosecuting, why he had been swearing, Pc Dance said: "I only used bad language as a tactic to regain control of the situation."

Erm, regardless of the outcome of this case, how did this guy get to be a police officer in the first place? He sounds like the last person who could diffuse a situation.