Policeman broke into home using hammer, court is told

A POLICE officer’s daughter wept as she told a court how her dad battered his way into the house with a hammer.

Lauren Purves said she dialled 999 as her father, David, smashed through the back door of the family home by splintering the frame.

Giving evidence from behind screens at Livingston Sheriff Court yesterday, she said she was in “a state of shock” at her dad’s behaviour. She claimed she was so traumatised that she was unable to speak to a 999 operator and had to hand her mobile phone to her mum.
Earlier, Lauren’s mum, Julie, told how she’d locked her husband out when he took the dog for a walk because their marriage was over. When he allegedly forced his way in the following day, she said he calmly made himself a cup of tea.

Purves, 46, a serving officer with Central Scotland Police, has pleaded not guilty behaving in a threatening and abusive manner at the matrimonial home in Linlithgow, West Lothian, last November 20.

The trial continues.