An RUC inspector denied yesterday that a cousin of the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, was assaulted by police after they foiled an IRA murder attempt on a senior detective.
Mr David Adams (39), from west Belfast, who is claiming compensation against the RUC, has alleged he was brutally assaulted and his injuries included a broken leg, two fractured ribs, a punctured lung and multiple cuts and bruises.
He denied all knowledge of the murder conspiracy for which he is serving a 25-year sentence.
The inspector who arrested Adams at Belmont Avenue, east Belfast, in February 1994 said his allegations of assault were "completely incorrect".
"I was there all the time and it did not happen," he said.
"And no other officer could have assaulted him without me seeing it."
The inspector said he was one of a dozen officers deployed to Belmont Avenue to abort a terrorist operation by a heavily-armed gang.
He said he saw a man he now knew to be Adams carrying a rifle as he ran up the road before diving under a van.
With the help of another officer, he tried to pull Adams out by the ankles, but he was struggling violently and appeared to be holding on to something.
Eventually they got him out, but it was almost impossible to hold on to him because he was kicking out.
"Adams was pulled up to his knees and handcuffed, the first time that he was compliant."
The inspector said that as Adams was being taken to a police car it was obvious he was limping. "I was aware of some blood around his head," he said.
The hearing continues today.