AN off duty Swindon Police Officer, biting the thumb of a Turkish man with whom he was fighting, was making a growling noise from the throat, WPC Louise Best told a Truro Crown Court jury yesterday. The victim was also making a lot of noise and was obviously in pain, said another police officer, Sgt Matthew Shaw of Devon and Cornwall Police.

He and a colleague were unable to prise Dean Hoskins, from Serif Kandemir, a kebab shop worker in Newquay, Cornwall. "I told him a couple of times to let go but he refused my instructions," he said. "I thought if I didn't get it released shortly he would bite the thumb off so I threatened to use my CS gas spray. He then released the thumb."

Hoskins, aged 32 of Burdon Close, Stratton, has denied assaulting 32-year-old Mr Kandemir, causing him actual bodily harm, outside a Newquay nightclub on November 28 last year. He is expected to go into the witness box today. The trial continues.