Gosford police Evan Prowse, Steven Brown plead not guilty to alleged assault of NRL star Tom Starling

Two police officers have pleaded not guilty to allegedly assaulting NRL and Canberra Raiders hooker Tom Starling following a wild fracas at a Central Coast restaurant.

Tom Starling posted this image to social media after the alleged brawl outside the Shady Palms.

Two police officers have been excused from attending court where their lawyer has entered pleas of not guilty to the alleged assault of NRL star Tom Starling following a wild brawl on the Central Coast.

Sergeant Evan Huw Prowse, 37, and Senior Constable Steven Lockwood Brown, 49, were not required to appear at Gosford Local Court on Thursday morning where both officers are charged with the common assault of Tom Starling.

Sgt Prowse was also charged with the common assault of Jackson Starling, to which he has also pleaded not guilty.

Magistrate Jennifer Price adjourned the matter to May 2 and ordered police to prepare and serve a brief of evidence by April 4.

Ms Price also excused both officers from attending court at the next occasion if they are legally represented.

Outside court the solicitor for both men Warwick Anderson said the officers would “vigorously defend” the charges.

CCTV footage of the incident was played at Tom Starling’s hearing.

He said they had not received the brief but they had seen the CCTV footage from the Shady Palms restaurant that was “publicly available”.

He said police faced an “extremely difficult” job.

Vision of Tom Starling at The Shady Palms hotel on the Central Coast.

“They run towards things that most people run away from,” Mr Anderson said.

The charges come after 25-year-old hooker Tom Starling was cleared of charges of assaulting and hindering police during the violent fracas, which left him with a bloody nose and grazes.

Starling and his brothers Jackson, 27, and Josh, 22, were attending a friend’s 21st birthday party at Shady Palms hotel at Avoca Beach on December 5, 2020, when a fight broke out.

An 11-day hearing at Downing Centre Local Court in December 2022 heard the fight started after security guard Khan Morris told the Starling brothers’ mother Joanne to sit down because of Covid restrictions.

Joanne Starling was never accused of wrongdoing.

Tom Starling was found not guilty of the charges of assaulting and hindering police after CCTV footage was played in court, which showed the NRL player allegedly being repeatedly punched in the face.

Police were called to Shady Palms in 2020.

In February, Magistrate Daniel Covington found Tom and Jackson not guilty of resisting police in the execution of their duty and Josh not guilty of two counts of assaulting police.

Josh was, however, found guilty of resisting police and assaulting security guard Mr Morris.

Mr Covington found while the offences were proven, he did not proceed to a conviction and instead put Josh on two 18-month good behaviour bonds.

Mr Morris was later charged with assault but has pleaded not guilty and will face a hearing later this year.

Following inquiries, officers from the Professional Standard Command charged Sgt Prowse and Sen Con Brown.