Cleared brothers 'to sue police'

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Two millionaire property developer brothers have vowed to sue police after they were cleared of breach of the peace and assaulting an officer.

It was claimed Patrick and Hugh Hegarty threw bottles off the roof of a flat in Edinburgh before failing to give their names to officers and assaulting one.

The brothers, from Londonderry, were found not guilty after footage of the incident last year was shown in court.

Hugh, 45, and Patrick, 47, now plan to sue Lothian and Borders Police.

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court, they had denied charges of culpable and reckless conduct, breach of the peace, resisting arrest and assault.

The charges arose from allegations of bottles of water being thrown from the roof of Patrick Hegarty's penthouse in Edinburgh's Wemyss Place after a housewarming party in June 2007.

Police officers said that when they went to investigate, the brothers refused to give their names and addresses and committed a breach of the peace.

My thought was the police officer could not lose face in front of his collegues Patrick Hegarty

The police also claimed the men resisted arrest and struggled with officers and that Hugh Hegarty had assaulted a female officer by punching her on the face.

However, Sheriff Valerie Johnston ruled there was no case to answer on the culpable and reckless conduct charge or on the charge alleging the men refusing to give their details to officers.

She also cleared Patrick Hegarty of resisting arrest.

The trial continued on the breach of the peace charge against both men and against Hugh Hegarty for resisting arrest and assault.

In his evidence, Hugh Hegarty said that when his brother was being taken to a police car in handcuffs, he began recording with a camera.

Hugh Hegarty said he was approached by Pc Nicola Paterson who demanded that he stop and when he refused she forcibly tried to take the camera off him.

He managed to break free and as he ran back to the house, he claimed he was tripped by pursuing officers and one bashed his head on the ground.

The video he shot was shown on several occasions during the trial.

Patrick Hegarty told the court that neither he nor his brother knew that bottles had been thrown.

Questioned by his defence counsel, Gordon Jackson QC, he claimed the officer who demanded his name, he said, was "very fired up".

"My thought was the police officer could not lose face in front of his colleagues," he said.

Patrick Hegarty told the court the officers handcuffed him and smashed his face on the roof of a police car.

'Lying under oath'

A witness also described seeing him lying in a pool of blood and the court had been shown pictures of injuries to both brothers.

Finding the pair not guilty of all charges, Sheriff Johnston said the video footage was "crucial."

Hugh Hegarty's defence agent, Stephen Knowles, said in his submission: "It was the video that battered the officers, not the wigs."

Patrick Hegarty said: "The testimony given by several police officers in this case was fatally undermined only because we had video evidence which clearly showed them to be lying under oath."

Hugh Hegarty said: "We received extensive injuries at the hands of the police and we will be pursuing a substantial damages case against Lothian and Borders Police as a matter of urgency."