Officer to be tried on cell attack charge

A serving police officer is to stand trial facing two charges of assaulting a man in a cell at a police station.

David William Black, who is understood to be a sergeant with Police Scotland’s Tayside Division in Angus, is alleged to have grabbed a prisoner by the neck and kneed him in the face.

He denies attacking John Marc Brand at Arbroath Police Office on October 10, 2013.

Fiscal depute Mohamad Sadiq said the case was “sensitive” and that it was anticipated the trial would run for two days.

It is understood Black remains a serving officer but is not currently involved in a public facing role.

Black, 48, whose address was given as Police HQ, West Bell Street, Dundee, pleaded not guilty to the charges on summary complaint at Forfar Sheriff Court.

A trial date was set for February next year, with Black ordered to attend a pre-trial hearing earlier that month.

This article originally appeared on our sister publication the Forfar Dispatch.