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Soap star Gillian Taylforth’s ­cancer-stricken boyfriend claims he was assaulted by police as the actress was arrested on a drink-driving charge.

Dave Fairbairn was left soaked in blood after he was detained for allegedly shouting and swearing as EastEnders legend Gillian, 59, was led away.

Dave, who denies the accusation, claims his head “exploded like an egg” when it was slammed against the back of a police van while his hands were handcuffed ­behind his back.

Pictures taken just after he was released from Hoddesdon police station, Herts, show a two-inch cut on his forehead and blood stains on his face and shirt.

Dave, who has prostate cancer, claims he had a similar experience when he was stopped by Merseyside police nearly two years ago on suspicion of drink-driving.

The 59-year-old businessman insists he was totally blameless on both occasions.

Dave – who served seven years in jail after being arrested in 2001 for trying to smuggle the rave drug ecstasy into the UK – told the Sunday People: “I was trying to be mild and mind my Ps and Qs.

“I knew what I’d like to say, but I’m not the person I was 25 years ago.”

Dave’s latest bust-up came less than two weeks before Gillian’s dramatic return to EastEnders as Kathy Beale in the BBC show’s 30th anniversary live episode.

The couple, who started dating in 2012 after meeting through friends, were ­celebrating a pal’s birthday at The Snug restaurant in Hertford three weeks ago.

They had planned to return to the soap star’s £900,000 home in nearby Broxbourne, Herts, to watch England play Wales in rugby’s Six Nations, but stayed out later than expected.

(Image: Matt Sprake)

Because Dave had drunk too much to drive, he claimed Gillian moved their car away from a market place which had clamping notices before they would get a taxi home.

He said: “We moved the car approximately 22 metres to a parking zone.

“Gillian got in the passenger side to look for the house keys. Then there was a tap, tap on the window.

“We both looked round and heard them say, ‘Gillian Taylforth, we believe you to be over the limit.’ They knew her name.

“All we had done is move the car. I got out and she got out. They wanted to breathalyse her and they started crowding around. Two women and two guys. There were other cars.

“My concern was that she might have an asthma attack.”

Dave claimed a policeman tried to push him out of the way because he was filming the incident on his phone.

He said: “I thought it was an opportunity to keep a balance, because they’ve got videos. They were trying to get me out of the way. I was just trying to let Gillian see me so she would feel OK.

“But the officers were quite aggressive to her, saying ‘Just keep looking at us.’ She wasn’t swaying or slurring. She was totally coherent.

“The police breathalysed Gillian and told her she was under arrest.”

(Image: PA)

Dave claimed they then handcuffed Gillian. “I couldn’t believe that was ­necessary,” said Dave. “It was all done in the street. It was terrible.

“Handcuffing her behind her back in the street? You do that when someone is awkward or loud.”

Dave claimed it was at this point he too was arrested.

“They handcuffed me behind my back. I just kept saying, ‘Take it easy’ and ‘Calm down’. I was thinking, ‘Hold on, I haven’t done anything.’

“I had sworn once and exactly once, which will be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt if they’ve got video evidence. One of the officers said, ‘Stop swearing at me.’ But I had only sworn once. And all I said was: ‘For f***’s sake’. It wasn’t even at him, it was at the whole situation. It wasn’t even loud.

“I’m not like I was years ago when I swore all the time. I said, ‘Officer, all I have done is swear once and it wasn’t at you.’”

Dave claims the officers took him towards their van.

He said: “Whether they saw me as being a pest or not, I just saw myself as a concerned partner.

“I remember saying, ‘Officer you’re now manhandling me.’ As we went up the steps to the back I felt a hand get hold of the back of my neck.

“The copper who kept telling me to stop swearing pushed my head hard. And all I could see is a girder come towards me. My head just exploded like an egg. It went everywhere. Because it was a white floor you could see how soaked it was. I was covered.”

(Image: Matt Sprake)

Dave claimed the officer then closed the van and drove off.

“I didn’t have chance to protest,” he said. “If I had seen someone covered in that much blood it would have been straight to hospital.

“They took me straight to a police cell. As everyone knows, I have got cancer because it was in the papers. You’d think they would have treated me with a bit more respect.”

Dave said he was quickly taken to a cell and gave police the names of two ­solicitors. But he said no solicitor came for him or Gillian. Dave also claimed the first medical attention came a few hours later, about 4am, from a female doctor.

“My shirt was drenched in blood,” said Dave. “My boy got a picture of me coming out of the police station and you can see that it’s encrusted with blood.

“The next time anyone came to me was around 9am. I had pressed the buzzer a couple of times to see if they had got hold of my solicitor. They said there was no answer, but I know there is a 24-hour, round-the-world number.

“And at no time was I abusive, because I know that comes back to bite you.”

Dave was given a £90 fixed ­penalty for a public order offence, which he is refusing to pay because he disputes the allegation.

Gillian, who also played Sandy Roscoe in Channel 4’s Hollyoaks, was bailed to appear at a magistrates’ court.

Dave did not complain about his ­treatment the day he was released but informed the Independent Police Complaints Commission the following week.

He claims the incident was an “almost ­carbon copy” of what happened in 2013 in Merseyside.

Dave was driving home along the M62 with Gillian and her son Harrison, then 14, after a Hollyoaks party.

The car was pulled over and Dave breathalysed. He said he’d drunk two-and-a-half ­spritzers, and the test proved inconclusive.

Dave said officers told him he had to go to the station and after he disagreed he claimed he was taken out of his car and handcuffed.

He said several attempts were made to prove he was over the limit at the station but by then his levels dropped even further.

Police charged him with trying to assault an officer but he was acquitted by magistrates.

Dave’s solicitor Dave Kilty, of DPP Law, confirmed his client is suing police after the M62 incident.

He said: “There is a case ongoing.”

A Hertfordshire Constabulary spokesman said: “We can confirm that a complaint was received, via the Independent Police Complaints Commission, on February 24, and is being assessed by the Beds, Cambs and Herts Professional Standards Unit.”