A police officer has spoken of his “19 months of hell” after he was falsely accused of assaulting and abducting a teenager in Aberdeenshire.
Ian Ivancic went on trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court this week, accused of repeatedly punching Niall Corbett to the face before driving away with him in the back of his police van.
However the Ellon-based community beat officer was cleared of both charges yesterday after Sheriff Annella Cowan ruled Mr Corbett and his friends had been colluding with one another.
She said “alarm bells” had been ringing throughout the course of the trial while they recited almost word for word how they claimed Mr Corbett was attacked.
However, when it came down to intricate details about the alleged offence which was said to have happened on February 9 last year, none of the accounts matched up.
Finding the constable not guilty yesterday morning, Sheriff Cowan said the evidence of Mr Corbett and his friends had been “lamentable”.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Ivancic said he was glad the “truth had prevailed” – but added that he had been through “19 months of hell” as he waited for the case to call.
He said that as a result of the false allegations he had lost his job working with children in the community and was now weighing up whether to quit the career he loved.
He said: “I suppose the easy option for me would be to give it all up and go and earn more money in the oil industry. All it takes is for me to go back to work and for someone to make another allegation against me, and for someone to corroborate it and then I have to go through all of this again.
“Is it worth it? Is it worth putting my wife and kids through this again?
“I have lost my job because of this, I have not been allowed to work with the kids in the community and I still have internal disciplinary procedures to go through.
“All I have ever wanted to do is to work hard and to live in and serve my community.”
Throughout the trial the court heard that Constable Ivancic, whose address was given in court papers as care of professional standards department, Police Scotland, Aberdeen, had been attending a disturbance at a house party in Balmedie’s Chapelwell Drive at the time of the alleged incident.
Mr Corbett claimed the officer had approached him and asked him to move on – and that when he refused to do so he was thrown against the side of his police van.
He claimed the 45-year-old then punched him three times to the face before bundling him into the back of the vehicle and driving off.
The constable was cleared of the abduction charge early yesterday morning when it emerged he had not even been at the wheel of the van.
The court heard from three other officers that Constable Ivancic, who has eight years police service, had been seen by them placing Mr Corbett into the back of the van, having had him in a “come along hold”.
All three stressed that he did not punch the 16-year-old.
It was their evidence, and not that of Mr Corbett and his friends, which Sheriff Cowan found plausible.
She said: “The civilian witnesses veered to such an extent that although they agreed that there had been an assault, they could not agree as to when or where it had happened.
“They also all used the same phrase ‘uppercut’ which is something that always sets alarm bells off for judges.
“I cannot accept that Mr Corbett was injured in the police van.”
Last night a Police Scotland spokesman said: “A report on the full circumstances will now be prepared for the consideration of the designated chief constable.
“In line with good employment practices it would be inappropriate for Police Scotland to make any further comment.”