A TOP performing police officer who lost his job after being convicted of assaulting a teenager has said he did not punch the boy.

Kieran Jones, pictured, who was dismissed from the Staffordshire force after last December's trial told an appeal court that he does not know how 15-year-old Shane Wood sustained an injury to his left eye in late 2007.

A trial last year found the 30-year-old guilty of assaulting Mr Wood by beating.

But yesterday he told Birmingham Crown Court that he was innocent.

Jones, of Talke Road, Alsager, said: "I can't precisely say how he came by that injury.

"It could have been the first time he went down (to the floor), or when he was turning about on the floor, or when he fell towards the kerb. It was not a punch by me."

Jones and PC Claire Johnson were the first officers to arrive at the scene of a disturbance in Bentilee in the early hours of October 20.

Jones told Mr Wood to take his Alsatian dog home as it was barking aggressively.

The teenager did but returned and was "aggressive, abusive and animated" according to Jones.

He said: "I told him he would be arrested if he continued. He continued to be abusive."

Jones said the teenager, now aged 17, began to swing punches at him as he attempted to make the arrest.

The then-police officer grabbed his clothing and pulled him to the ground but was not able to say whether Mr Wood sustained an injury at any stage.

And Jones added that, as soon as he took his weight off, Mr Wood began flailing around and he had no option but to turn him on to his front.

Jones's counsel Brian Dean asked whether it was controlled when he took Mr Wood to the ground.

"Not by any means, no," said the appellant. "It was a heavy landing by both of us."

After a struggle Jones handcuffed Mr Wood, who was described as "hysterical".

And the teenager continued struggling after getting to his feet before the former officer let go of him and he fell face down into the kerb.

Mr Dean asked Jones: "At any stage during the course of all this did you ever throw or direct a punch at Shane Wood?"

Jones replied: "At no time did I lose control, strike or punch a 15-year-old boy."

"In any way did you use excessive force or strike him with a blow, from when you put your hands on him to getting him to the car?" asked Mr Dean.

"Not at any time," said Jones.

The former officer said the teenager kicked and head-butted windows after being placed in a police car.

And it was while in the vehicle he first noticed marks around Mr Wood's eye.

Earlier yesterday, the hearing heard from Wing Commander Robert Scott, a consultant adviser in ophthalmology (study of the eyes) for the Armed Forces.

He studied photographs of Mr Wood's injuries and said it was extremely unlikely they were caused by a fist and it was more likely to have been an abrasive surface.

Jones joined the force in 2003 and was in the Stoke-on-Trent policing division's top 20 performers for two years running.

The Hanley-based constable received a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for a year, with 200 hours unpaid work, ordered to pay £350 compensation and £625 costs as a result of the conviction last year.

The case continues.