An infamous Hove landlord is due to stand trial today accused of calling a police officer a “poof”.
Nicholas van Hoogstraten is appearing before court under his new name, Nicholas Adolf von Hessen, which he changed it to by deed poll in 2009 after moving to Zimbabwe.
The charge is that on 19 August last year in Hove, after almost a dozen police officers were called due a dispute over a clamped car, Hoogstraten was arrested and while officers awaited a police van, he called one of them a poof.
The 75-year-old, of The Drive, Hove, entered no plea at a previous hearing at Brighton Magistrates Court which the court took as a not guilty plea.
Today, he called prosecutor Melanie Wotton and court staff liars while accusing the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of not disclosing all relevant evidence.
In response, Ms Wotton said that she was “at a loss” to understand what further evidence he was requesting, and said he was on a “fishing expedition”.
Referring to the wording of the charge, Hoogstraten told the court: “Nothing that happened that day amounted to threatening, abusive or harassing behaviour.”
The bench, chaired by Barbara Dart, ruled that the trial should go ahead. The hearing continues.
