Five off-duty female police officers were ‘letting their hair down’ when they were caught up in a brawl with a mum and her three daughters at a bottomless brunch, a court heard today.
Rose Webb, 58, along with Casey Jackson, 32, Emma Dee Jackson, 34, and Billie Jo Jackson, 35, allegedly kicked, punched and pulled out clumps of hair during the fight at the Cocktail Club on Shaftesbury Avenue.
The TSG officers, who were part of the Met’s Territorial Support Group (TSG), were enjoying the ‘High School Musical’ themed brunch, drinking Prosecco, eating pizza and singing along to ‘We’re All In This Together’.
The two groups were dancing close together when Webb became annoyed by PC Tanisha Whitlock’s dancing, jurors have heard.
Webb yelled ‘f**king lezza!’ at PC Whitlock as her colleagues, Daniella Andrean, Binal Valji, Megan Pearson and Bethan Thomas all became involved in the struggle, Wood Green Crown Court heard.
CCTV of the incident shown in court allegedly shows the defendants ‘went over the top’.
In his closing speech, prosecutor Alex Balancy said: ‘Looking at the CCTV footage it tells the story. Look at the behaviour of each individual one by one and also of the complainants [to find out] who was the aggressor and whether the force used was reasonable.’
Mr Balancy said that the police officers should not be criticised for ‘dancing silly’ in the footage.
He said: ‘Just because they are police officers are we saying they are not allowed to go out and have a good time*to dance and let their hair down?’
Rose Webb (pictured), 58, along with Casey Jackson, 32, Emma Dee Jackson, 34, and Billie Jo Jackson, 35, allegedly kicked, punched and pulled out clumps of hair during the fight at the Cocktail Club on Shaftesbury Avenue
The TSG officers, who were part of the Met’s Territorial Support Group (TSG), were enjoying the ‘High School Musical’ themed brunch, drinking Prosecco, eating pizza and singing along to ‘We’re All In This Together’ (Pictured: Casey Jackson)
CCTV of the incident shown in court allegedly shows the defendants ‘went over the top’ (Pictured: Emma Dee Jackson)
Mr Balancy said that the police officers should not be criticised for ‘dancing silly’ in the footage (Pictured: Billie Jo Jackson)
‘What is it that Ms Whitlock did that was so bad that she had to have her hair pulled by Ms Webb and she would not simply let go?
‘I’m going to ask you to rise above these criticisms of the defence and to look at the footage and decide whether the conduct of all of them taken together would have caused fear by the hypothetical bystander.
‘This is not a case of self defence, this is a case where from the beginning for whatever reason Ms Webb, from the moment that she takes the view that Ms Whitlock invaded her space, or as Ms Whitlock says the fact that she was asked whether she was gay and she said she was a lesbian
‘She just kept going, aiming for Ms Whitlock again and again for some reason, for no reason apart from dancing and laughing and having a good time.
‘She (Whitlock) says she has flashbacks from being called a ‘f-king lesbian’ by Ms Webb pulling her.
‘Throughout Ms Whitlock never punches anyone, never kicks anyone, never scratches anyone.
‘It boils down to Ms Whitlock dancing, enjoying herself, having a dance and not deserving what happened afterwards.
‘Billie Jo became violent and lost it, Emma did the same and Casey did the same.
‘That was an affray by any standard you may think…by a group who had drunk too much and were prepared to fight.
‘Whilst the defence has had the benefit of cross examining these witnesses over what happened three years ago and footage they have never seen, the defendants have decided not to give evidence,’ he said.
Webb, Casey Jackson, Emma Dee Jackson and Billie Jo Jackson, all of Northolt, west London, all deny affray.
Billie Jo Jackson works in water safety at Hammersmith Hospital while Casey Jackson works for a property firm with celebrity and high profile clients. Webb has a managerial role in a business.
The trial continues.
