By COLIN FERNANDEZ

Last updated at 10:42 29 August 2007

A man of 81 charged with assaulting two burly policemen has spoken of his distress at being forced into a 13-month ordeal to clear his name.

Frank Gibson, a former mayor, was driving home from church on Christmas Eve last year when he was stopped by the officers and told to get out of his car.

The frail pensioner, who was barely able to walk as he was recovering from a foot operation, claims that when he refused the officers grabbed an arm each and dragged him out.

He was held for more than five hours before being allowed to return home to his anxious wife Susan at 5am on Christmas Day.

Mr Gibson, who has the OBE, faced Medway Magistrates last week accused of pushing PC Thomas McGregor in the chest and twisting PC Steven Cole's thumb. He denies both charges.

But the case was adjourned before he could give his defence - and he was told the court's busy calendar means he will not be able to do so until January.

"Obviously, this result is very distressing for my family and friends as well as myself," Mr Gibson, who walks with a stick, said outside the court in Chatham, Kent.

"Last year this matter effectively ruined Christmas and now we will have this hanging over us again this Christmas. It will be five months before I get the chance to clear my name once and for all."

Mr Gibson, a former leader of the Tory group on Gravesend Council and former mayor of Gravesend, had been stopped on suspicion of drinkdriving in his blue V-registration Rover.

A breath test was taken which he passed as he had only had a sip of communion wine at the church service.

Because he declined to get out of his car, protesting that he had done nothing wrong, Mr Gibson said he was dragged from his vehicle.

John Fitzgerald, prosecuting, told the court: "Mr Gibson's reaction was to push PC McGregor in the chest with his left hand and proceed to walk back to his car. Mr McGregor stumbled backwards a couple of steps.

"Mr Gibson then got hold of PC Cole's thumb and bent it back as he struggled to get free from the officers' hold."

PC Cole said: "It hurt. He twisted it back and I noted down in my pocket notebook that I let out a yelp."

The officers called for back-up from two colleagues before arresting Mr Gibson and driving him to the police station in handcuffs.

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said Mr Gibson's prosecution was in the public interest as it involved two police officers going about their public duty.

She said shoving one officer could have perhaps been overlooked - but not grabbing the other one.

"He was consistently aggressive and argumentative," she added. "We believe the behaviour of the police was proportionate to the situation."

She added that the case need not have gone to court as Mr Gibson had been offered the opportunity to be bound over to keep the peace but had refused.

Last year PC McGregor received a commendation for bravery from his chief constable for tackling a thug who knifed him three times in the chest. His stab-vest protected him from serious injury.