THE prosecution of a man charged with interfering with an arrest involving the use of a taser was abandoned after a police officer admitted only one per cent of his focus was on him.

Paul Dowds, 23, was accused of obstructing a PC who was dealing with a reported shoplifting incident in Greenock.

A taser-trained officer drew and discharged his device and a suspect fell to the ground before an attempt was made to arrest him at Blairmore Road.

The sheriff court trial was told that the man had pulled a bottle from his waistband and had threatened police with it.

A PC told the court that Dowds had  ‘quickly approached’ him from behind and ignored requests to ‘get back’.

The officer said: “He had something in his hand.

“I thought it was potentially another bottle from the shape. There was a lot to take in.

“Given what has just happened with the first male, my perception was that we were potentially going to get attacked by the second male.

“His demeanour was quite irate - it prevented me from assisting my colleague.”

Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Aidan Gallagher it emerged that Dowds was holding a mobile phone and not a bottle.

Mr Gallagher asked: "Did you in your operational statement say that he had an unknown object in his hand?"

The witness replied: “That sounds correct. It was a long time ago.

“He was coming towards me. I didn’t pay much attention to what he was doing.”

The incident occurred on April 2 last year.

When asked by a fiscal depute if his full focus was on the man who had been tasered, the officer said: “It was probably 99 per cent but I’m still trying to be aware of my surroundings.”

The prosecutor informed Sheriff Lindsey Kooner that the Crown would no longer be seeking a conviction in the case.

Dowds was formally found not guilty of the charge.