Four Sussex police officers deny assault charges

Four Sussex Police officers have denied assault charges relating to two separate incidents in Brighton and Crawley.

Forenzo Fenu, 28, and Richard Harris, 36, denied assaulting a man at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton in April.

James Reilly, 41, and Pablo Cabanes, 25, denied charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm relating to an alleged assault on a man in Crawley in March.

All four officers appeared at Sevenoaks Magistrates' Court on Tuesday after charges were brought following investigations by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Prosecutors said the man allegedly assaulted by Fenu, 28, and Harris, 36, sustained a fractured elbow and was handcuffed at the time.

The charges followed an IOPC investigation into alleged unlawful force on a man detained under the Mental Health Act.

A plea and trial preparation hearing will take place at Maidstone Crown Court on 7 December.

The alleged assault involving Reilly, 41, and Cabanes, 25, took place in Crawley in March.

Charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm were brought following two investigations by the IOPC.

This case was also sent to Maidstone Crown Court on 7 December.

All four defendants, Fenu, of Hove, Harris, of Shoreham, Reilly, of Haywards Heath, and Cabanes, of Horsham, were granted unconditional bail.

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