A SERVING police officer has appeared in court after being charged with battery and threatening violence.

Thames Valley Police officer, PC Lewis Cave, 29, was charged with three counts of battery and one count of threatening violence to secure entry – all said to have occurred in Tilehurst, Reading on August 8 last year.

The Reading police station officer appeared at Oxford Magistrates’ Court in Speedwell Street on Thursday, February 1.

READ MORE: Student, 20, dies after entering River Thames from bridge

No pleas have been entered but Cave, of Aborfield Green, Wokingham, is next due in the same court on February 19 for a further management hearing.

Though the offences took place while he was off-duty, Cave has been suspended from duty while the court proceedings take place.