FOUR off-duty PSNI officers have been found not guilty of being involved in a “fracas'' in a kebab shop
Victoria Bell (39), Dean McCallum (37), Mark Fulham (29) and Taylor Annett (25), whose addresses were given as c/o PSNI headquarters in east Belfast, denied a single charge each of affray.
The off-duty officers had been out in Belfast celebrating Mr Fulham’s birthday prior to the disturbance and all four accepted that by the time they went to City Kitchen in High Street for food, they were drunk.
All four officers said they acted in self-defence and that the force they used was necessary and proportionate.
The court heard in the early hours of January 8, 2022 Graham McCullough, entered the kebab shop and heard an interaction between the four defendants and a man wearing a red hat sitting on his own at another table.
Mr McCullough intervened which resulted in a fracas breaking out and the PSNI being called to the scene.
During the trial at Belfast Crown Court, the defendants accepted that at no point during the incident did any of them reveal they were police officers.
At court on Monday, the jury returned not guilty verdicts for the charge of affray against each defendant.