Whether a NRL star was pulled down from a stage by police officers or jumped on them from a height is a key question in the trial of two officers charged with assault.
Evan Huw Prowse and Steven Lockwood Brown have both pleaded not guilty to the common assault of Canberra Raiders hooker Tom Starling at a 21st birthday party in December 2020.
Starling, his brothers Jackson and Josh and friend Jesse Byrne, had originally been charged with assaulting police and resisting arrest after a drunken night out on the NSW Central Coast.
But those charges were later dropped, and Brown and Prowse were subsequently charged with assaulting the NRL player, who suffered concussion and a bloodied face in the incident.
A security guard working at the Shady Palms bar in Kincumber that night told the Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday he saw Starling jump from a stage onto a crowd of officers while his brother Josh was being arrested.
"Once he jumped, I just remember everything started to happen ... I just knew he was challenging towards the police," Stuart McDonald said.
Mr McDonald did not know who Starling was at the time but recognised him as the man who jumped on officers in media coverage the following day.
Starling had only just completed his first full season of NRL at the time.
"You were able to identify him because you saw some Channel Nine footage the next night?" Prowse's barrister Stephen Russell asked Mr McDonald.
"That's right," the security guard replied.
But a childhood friend of Starling testified the 146-game veteran did not jump on officers, but was grabbed and pulled down as police tried to contain the escalating situation.
"As (Starling) was trying to step down off the stage he was pulled down by a police officer," Oscar Mitchell told the court.
"I was yelling to my friends and other people to leave ... then Tom was grabbed by a big commotion of policemen."
Mr Mitchell said he saw Starling being struck by police in the body while he was on the ground.
But Brown's barrister argued Mr Mitchell's evidence was incorrect and suggested the Raiders star had rushed forward to try grab Brown's right arm while he was involved in arresting Starling's brother.
"I want to suggest to you that this evidence of him being pulled to the ground and being struck on the ground is untrue," Jeremy Morris SC said.
"That's not true," Mr Mitchell said.
The charges against Brown and Prowse have gained significant prominence in recent weeks after an ABC Four Corners program highlighted them as an example of complaints about police behaviour.
Before Tuesday's proceedings began, Judge Lisa Graham told the parties she had deliberately avoided watching the program to not have her judgment clouded.
"It's not appropriate for the court to consider any outside media coverage," she said.
The hearing resumed on Tuesday after 13 months in legal limbo while the courthouse underwent extensive renovations after major flooding.
Starling previously described being hit with a "coward punch" to the back of his head as he moved towards the bar's exit.
He told the court his head had been shoved down and he had been hit with a "barrage of punches" from an unknown person subjecting him to an "all-out attack".
The NRL player said he tried to keep his head up as he was pushed backwards so he could see his assailant, but he was struck by another “three or four punches” that knocked him out.
While the prosecutor has argued the use of force was unreasonable and unlawful, lawyers for the police officers have maintained it was a proportional response to a volatile situation.
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