A police officer accused of assaulting a prominent businessman after pulling over his Rolls-Royce has broken down while telling a jury how he felt intimidated and threatened by the man.
Constable Norman Hoy said Yasser Shahin told him he was a lawyer, asked for his badge number and said: "The minister of police and I will be having a chat tomorrow".
"I don't believe I had done anything wrong," Hoy told the South Australian District Court on Tuesday.
"I thought he was bringing undue influence on me. I thought my job was at risk."
The 59-year-old has pleaded not guilty to the aggravated assault of Mr Shahin in September 2010.
Mr Shahin, whose family enterprises in SA include BP on the Run outlets, has testified to being bullied and grabbed by the shoulder when he went to retrieve his keys.
The constable had pulled over the Rolls-Royce in the Adelaide city centre because the window tinting was too dark.
Hoy told the jury he repeatedly directed Mr Shahin not to re-enter the vehicle and grabbed him by the left bicep when he did not comply.
He said he had no idea what Mr Shahin was going to do, whether he was going to drive away or whether he had weapons in his car.
Earlier, after a number of exchanges, he decided to call for back-up.
"I had a person who was angry," Hoy said.
"I had a person who had told me he was a lawyer and he was driving a very expensive car.
"I thought he must be pretty successful, from what he told me, he knew more about the law."
He also thought Mr Shahin must have known the police minister personally, given he was speaking to him the next day, a Sunday.
When Mr Shahin asked for his badge number, Hoy said he interpreted it as "intimidation and a threat for some action to be taken on his behalf".
But Hoy said: "I have a sworn duty to do my job impartially regardless of influence and all I wanted to do is defect this car and comply with the legislation".
The trial continues.
Share
