Court told testicle like 'potato mash'

Martin James Folan is on trial facing various assault charges. Photo / Brett Phibbs

A man's testicle looked like "potato mash" and had to be surgically removed after he was allegedly kneed in the groin by a senior police officer.

Martin James Folan, a police sergeant in West Auckland, faces six charges of assault and one of injuring with intent to injure.

He is alleged to have assaulted five prisoners between October 2009 and January 2010. Folan has pleaded not guilty.

Joseph McGee told the Auckland District Court yesterday that he had been drinking with his flatmate and playing pool when he was set upon by up to eight men. He said he was knocked out six times by the men who kicked and punched him about his upper body.

An ambulance was called to the West Auckland bar and police arrested Mr McGee for disorderly behaviour and resisting arrest. He spent the night in the cells of the Henderson police station where the Crown says he was assaulted by Folan.

Mr McGee does not remember being assaulted or meeting Folan.

However, Crown prosecutor Mark Zarifeh said on Monday that Mr McGee was being processed by three police officers when Folan kneed him in the groin or stomach area "with a good deal of force".

Mr McGee told the court that he first noticed the pain in his groin when he was being fingerprinted.

"It was among the worst pain I ever had. I had trouble walking for four days."

He said once he was released by police he went home and slept. The next night he noticed that his testicle was almost the size of a tennis ball.

He waited for three days before seeing a doctor. He was taken to Auckland Hospital and operated on later that night.

He said the doctor's exact words were: "He couldn't save it because it was literally like potato mash."

Folan's lawyer, Richard Earwaker, told Mr McGee that police had found him "extremely intoxicated" on the night he was arrested.

Mr McGee said that was not the case. He said his memory was hazy after being knocked out.

"I'll knock you out six or seven times and see how you react to that," Mr McGee said.

Mr Earwaker said that Mr McGee had told police that he had been kicked in the genitals by gang members.

Mr McGee replied: "I couldn't remember when I was kicked."

His flatmate Lisa-Maree Silich said she saw the fight where Mr McGee was punched over and over again.

"It was brutal actually. Most of it was in the face. I saw him hit in the stomach."

Ms Silich said Mr McGee was groggy after the beating and she worried that he had a head injury.

Samuel Verdonk is another alleged victim of Folan. He was intoxicated and "flipping out" when police arrived at his ex-partner's home in November 2009.

"I just wanted to let loose."

Verdonk remembers very little of being arrested or his time in a police cell. He said once he got home and took a shower, he noticed a pain in his groin.

Under cross-examination from Folan's lawyer, Richard Earwaker, he confirmed that he had not been spoken to by police until four months after the incident. The Crown says Folan asked a constable to swing Verdonk's cell door open. Folan is alleged to have gone into the cell and kicked Verdonk in the groin.

The trial is set down for five more days with 23 witnesses to be called by the Crown.