A SENIOR police officer denied leading a charge of drug squad detectives armed with baseball bats and pick handles - claiming he was ''past his sell-by date.''

Inspector Frank Thom, 47, and six Strathclyde Police colleagues are now on trial at the High Court in Edinburgh, accused of lying on oath about a raid on a Glasgow flat almost nine years ago.

Heroin dealer Gerald Rae, 41, later sued Strathclyde's Chief Constable, claiming detectives beat him as he lay screaming on the floor of his then home in Cartside Street, Langside.

He repeated the claim two weeks ago when he gave evidence against the seven police officers accused of perjury.

Mr Rae, 41, of Hathaway Lane, Glasgow, also picked out Mr Thom in court, describing how he had rushed up the stair towards his first-floor flat and sworn at him: ''Gerry you wee bastard.''

Mr Rae was found dead in a car parked in Glasgow's Drysdale Avenue last Friday.

Yesterday, the jury heard a tape recording of evidence given to a Court of Session judge during Mr Rae's civil action in December 1997 - when the officers are alleged to have lied about the drug raid.

Mr Thom denied that he had been sitting in a parked car in Cartside Street, where Mr Rae claimed to have seen him.

He also denied a suggestion from the lawyer then representing Mr Rae that he had been leading as police rushed up the stairs towards the flat.

Mr Thom, a detective sergeant at the time of the incident in December 1990, told the Court of Session he had been at the back with a sledgehammer to break down the door, if necessary.

Mr Rae would have known he was a member of the drug squad, which was why he took up position at the back. He had also been careful to park his car well away from Cartside Street.

''To put it in the vernacular, I have passed my sell-by date, I have been in the drug squad for so long,'' he told the Court of Session.

Mr Thom also described how Mr Rae ''screamed and howled'' as officers struggled to restrain him - but not because he was being beaten.

On trial with Inspector Thom are Detective Sergeant Katrona Jackson, 39, Constable John Kelly, 37; Ian McBain, 48, who was then a detective sergeant; Inpector John Pollock, 50 who was in charge of the operation; Detective Constable James Dinnen, 41 and Pc Andrew Caie, 42. Each denies perjury.

All have given their address as c/o Strathclyde Police's Pitt Street station in Glasgow.

Earlier the court heard of a woman detective's stuggle with a vicious dog.

Ms Jackson described the pit bull terrier which sank its teeth into a colleague's jacket and tried to hang on as ''a maniac.''

Finally the dog was thrown across a lino floor and locked in a bathroom while drug squad detectives continued their operation.

In the tape recordings of evidence from the hearing in December 1997 the jury heard Ms Jackson tell Lord Marnoch, at the Court of Session, how Mr Rae's wife shouted ''Get them!'' as police entered the first floor flat in Cartside Street, Langside.

Ms Jackson said she assumed the woman was talking to the dogs. A Doberman came barking down the hallway, but didn't really do anything. The smaller dog, she said, was ''a menace.''

It went for Pc Kelly as he struggled with Mr Rae.

Ms Jackson's taped account continued: ''I remember it hanging from him with its teeth.'' It had hold of the bottom of his jacket as he continued to struggle with Mr Rae in the cramped hallway.

She grabbed the dog by the loose skin of its neck, trying to hold it so that if the dog tried to bite her hand it would bite itself.

''Everything at the time seemed to be taking an eternity,'' she said. Her colleagues were occupied with Mr Rae.

The trial continues.