An RCMP constable said police wouldn't intervene if a suspected drug dealer in Grand Manan were assaulted or had his house burned down, witnesses testified at the trial of five men in St. Andrews on Friday.

Carter Foster, Matthew Lambert, Michael Small, Lloyd Bainbridge and Greg Guthrie are being tried together by a 12-member jury. The men are accused of carrying out a vigilante-style attack on a reputed drug house owned by Ronald Ross in the small Grand Manan community of Castalia.

Claude Ingalls, a fisheries worker, testified he overheard RCMP Const. Gerald Bigger tell someone that if Ross's place burned there would be no investigation.

Ingalls, 51, testified he heard Bigger say police would be slow to respond and so would the fire department

Ross's home was burned to the ground July 22.

Kirk Brooks, 40, testified that he also had chatted about Ross with Bigger. Brooks said Bigger told him police would do nothing if Ross's house caught fire.

Brooks also testified that Bigger had said police would do nothing if Ross were lying by the side of the road with blood running out of him.

The Crown prosecutor challenged this testimony, pointing out that the RCMP and fire officials had responded quickly on the night of the riot.

In earlier testimony, it was also pointed out that Bigger had protected Ross when he was attacked that night, and that police made sure he got off the island safely.

The trial resumes Tuesday.