THE HERALD FRIDAY JANUARY 20 2017


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3 News Jury out in police ‘lying statement’ case A LYING policeman found


himself in court for arresting a man he claimed called him a 'bum-boy' and a 'nonce', a jury heard this week. PC David Norman, 52, claimed he'd


been subjected to a 'torrent of abuse' before arresting Richard Roberts, who was involved in a row with a neighbour. But Norman's 'deliberate lie' was


allegedly found out when Mr Roberts produced CCTV showing the foul- mouthed rant never happened. PC Norman denies perverting the course of justice. Mr Roberts called police after a


neighbour ran over his wheely bin in a car and he became embroiled in a row between the woman driver and her father. Swansea Crown Court heard Mr


Roberts was punched in the face during the row - yet he was the one arrested and thrown in the back of a police van. Prosecutor John Hipkin said: "PC


Norman's statement said he heard Mr Roberts shouting a torrent of abuse. He said every other word was 'f***ing nonce', 'f***ing a***hole', and 'c***s'. "That is false, because Mr Roberts'


CCTV shows it to be false." Mr Roberts was kept in police


cells for three days prior to appearing at his local court - where he heard PC Norman's witness statement read out. The statement said he'd been


arrested for a public order offence after calling the policeman a 'f***ing nonce' and a 'bum-boy' on his doorstep. Mr Roberts protested he'd never


used such language, and pleaded with officers to check his home CCTV which also recorded audio. A team of police officers studied


the recording taken outside Mr Roberts' home in Wentworth Close, Milford Haven, and found that he hadn't in fact abused PC Norman. The officer was himself arrested,


down his farmhouse while in dispute with a building society trying to get him out, a jury heard this aſternoon. Charles Chestnut, aged 55,


'obliterated' Pontyrhodyn farm, in the hamlet of Efailwen, on the very day he was due in court to continue his argument with the Yorkshire Building Society. And aſter his arrest, he told police:


"I don't intend to defend it in any way whatsoever. Produce whatever charges you want and I will accept them." Chestnut has refused to take part in


his trial at Swansea Crown Court and the case is proceeding in his absence. A plea of not guilty to arson has been entered on his behalf. Judge Geraint Walters told the jury:


"He is in the building. It is his choice that he takes no part in the proceedings. Tat is his right." Tom Scapens, prosecuting, said


Chestnut was in fact no longer the legal owner of Pontyrhodyn because he had stopped making payments and a county court had granted possession to the Yorkshire Building Society in 2014.


Crown Court Reporter Swansea Crown Court editor@herald.email


and admitted the statement had included 'mistakes' but denied doing it deliberately. Mr Hipkin said: "PC Norman later


told officers in an interview: 'I've been in situations with him before when he's been hostile to me and my colleagues'. "'I've heard him shouting out abuse


and been shocked my his language. He's full of vitriol and hate'." But Mr Hipkin said: "In the past,


Mr Roberts had not been whiter than white. It may give insight into what PC Norman's view of Mr Roberts was. "However, on January 21 last year,


he did not do the things PC Norman said he did. "Were these deliberate lies, or


mistakes incurred in the busy course of a police officer's life?" On the second day of the trial,


Norman said that he was having a 'bad day' and 'misremembered' what Mr Richards said during the incident.


Whitland man ‘burned down his home’ A WHITLAND man burned


Two years of further legal hearings


followed because Chestnut refused to leave the property entirely and eventually he occupied a caravan in the grounds of Pontyrhodyn. On September 19, 2016, Chestnut


had been due in court again but failed to attend. Neighbouring farmer Tomas


Davies noticed the roof had 'completely gone' and, later, another neighbour, Richard Tooze, told him he thought he could see smoke coming from Pontyrhodyn. Firemen found both the farmhouse


and a barn so badly damaged they did not bother taking any action. "Mr Chestnut was there and said he


had lit the fires," said Mr Scapens. Police found two petrol cans in


his car and found a caravan inside a polytunnel used for the growing of vegetables. Chestnut was sitting outside enjoying a barbecue and playing a guitar. James Taylor, a solicitor with the


Yorkshire Building Society, said the £250,000 property was now valued at as low as £40,000.


Norman admitted that the statement


he submitted was 'wrong' but insisted that at the time he thought he heard those words from Mr Richards. "I did a bad job. My statement was inadequate to say the least," he said. "I misremembered what had


happened. I realise now I was having a bad day." When Norman was shown the


CCTV footage, he said he was 'really surprised' to not hear the phrases he had written down in the statement. He went on to say that Richards


'had a problem' with police, and during the cross examination he denied 'having it in' for Mr Roberts. Norman then went on to inform


the court of his background with Mr Roberts. He said: "I believe he has a problem with the police. "I have spoken to him on many


occasions and that is the impression I have. "I believe I was even handed between the Roberts and the Craigs." STOP PRESS: As we were going


to print, the jury in the trial of Dyfed- Powys Police officer David Norman has been sent home for the night.


PC David Norman: Denies perverting the course of justice • Pic: Alan Evans Photography


Deliberations will continue today (Friday, Jan 20).


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