A Shropshire policeman accused of repeatedly punching a man in the face while on duty claimed he did it to save the life of a baby the victim was holding, a jury heard.

Constable Jason Swinney, 33, said he felt he had to take violent action against Mark Vick because he was throttling his nine-month-old baby son Alfie, Gloucester Crown Court was told.

Swinney, whose home address cannot be published by court order, denies assaulting Mr Vick, causing him actual bodily harm, in April 2009.

The court yesterday heard Swinney, an officer with West Mercia Police, went to an address in Woodrows, Telford, at night to respond to a domestic incident between Mr Vick and his partner Katie Leddington.

The jury has previously been told by the prosecution when the officer arrived Mr Vick was upstairs lying on the bed with his baby son cuddled in his arms and both were apparently asleep.

The court heard that only days before the incident Swinney had undergone a two-day refresher training course in the use of controlled force in dealing with potentially violent or obstructive suspects.

Venn Davies, an investigator with West Mercia police professional standards department, said that following a complaint made by Mr Vick about the way he was treated, Swinney was interviewed.

Swinney told the jury yesterday: “He began to tighten his grip on the child.

“His right hand deliberately tightened around the child’s throat on the front of the neck.

“I could see the child was clearly in discomfort. That’s when I knew I had to take action. I feared the child would be suffocated or worse. I straddled him. The only option was a distraction blow to the right side of the face.

“I struck him there once on the jaw area. I repeated my instruction to let go of the baby but he did not comply. He didn’t even move or flinch.

“Again I punched him to the face. He still did not release his grip. I again punched him and repeated my instruction. In all I punched him approximately six times until I saw his grip on the baby release .”

The trial was adjourned until Monday.

By Wayne Beese