TWO Wellington police officers have stood the first day of a trial against them at Dubbo District Court.
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Senior Constable Frank Shields and Constable Carl Giusti pleaded not guilty to the indictment containing counts of taking/detaining in company with intent to gain advantage and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
It is alleged a boy was placed into a headlock at Wellington's skate park before being pushed into a police truck, taken to the side of a river and assaulted on Sunday, August 7, 2011.
Proceedings began before Judge Gordon Lerve with the selection of eight women and four men to comprise the jury.
The Crown prosecutor then officially opened the case to the jury before witnesses were called.
Sporting spiked hair and wearing a black Everlast top and skinny cargo pants, the boy at the centre of the incident was invited to the stand as the first of 29 civilian and 18 police witnesses.
The Crown prosecutor briefly questioned the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, before the court saw the video recording of his initial interview with police.
In the 40-minute interview, the then-14-year-old told of his ordeal to Detective Senior Constable Luke Scott.
He said he had met with his girlfriend and been at the skate park for about five minutes before the police appeared.
He alleged Shields grabbed him in a headlock by surprise, headbutted him, and forced him into the back of a police truck.
He was taken down a dirt track to the bank of the Bell River, where he was punched in the jaw about five times and headbutted again by Shields.
"I thought they were going to kill me, I was scared," the boy told police.
Giusti approached the boy on a second stop along the banks of the Macquarie River with a Taser and allegedly said, "Don't tell anyone otherwise I'll put you on YouTube and everyone will laugh at you."
The boy rubbed his face repeatedly and looked at a written transcript as the video played.
Other evidence to be presented to the jury will include a crime scene analysis, photos of injuries, medical evidence and CCTV footage from the Wellington skate park.
The trial continues.