PC Andrew Harper murder trial: Driver 'tried to ram' police car

PC Andrew Harper died after his ankles became lassoed in a strap attached to a car

A police officer feared he would be "rammed" by a getaway car after he saw it dragging a colleague to his death.

PC Christopher Bushnell told the Old Bailey the driver "deliberately" drove straight at him.

The police dog handler began chasing the car, driven by Henry Long, after PC Andrew Harper had been unwittingly "lassoed" by a towrope, jurors heard.

Long, 19, along with his passengers Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, both 18, all deny murder.

Long, from Mortimer, Reading, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

The Old Bailey previously heard PC Harper, from Wallingford, Oxfordshire, died in "truly shocking circumstances" when his ankles got caught by a strap used to tow a stolen quad bike in Berkshire on 15 August.

The 28-year-old "stepped with both feet" into the trailing loop as he attempted to apprehend one of the defendants, before their getaway car sped off in Admoor Lane, near Bradfield Southend, the court was told.

The prosecution said it was "irrelevant" whether Henry Long, Albert Bowers, and Jessie Cole (l-r) wanted PC Harper to become caught in the strap

Jurors heard PC Bushnell was parked in a lay-by and was waiting for the defendants' car after a colleague radioed to say he had "lost" his crewmate PC Harper.

PC Bushnell said he saw the vehicle "just appear... out of the dark" but "did not know what it was" that was being pulled behind it.

The officer said he realised it was a body as the Seat Toledo accelerated away.

He pursued the vehicle and came to a fork in the road, telling jurors when he looked to the right he saw the Seat driving at him.

He said: "Without warning it was coming straight down towards me. There were no lights on the vehicle.

"I then reared to the left. I took the view that they had deliberately chosen to drive straight at me.

"I thought to myself 'you're going to get rammed here'."

PC Harper was dragged for more than a mile by the escaping car

The court heard the Seat turned off down another road and PC Bushnell lost sight of it.

Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay read a statement from PC Andy Kemp, who in the meantime was performing CPR on PC Harper.

PC Kemp said he said something to PC Harper like: "Hello, I'm going to help you keep breathing."

The court heard paramedic Chris Darley arrived to see an officer performing CPR on PC Harper, who he said had "traumatic injuries", and told him to stop.

"I thought it was unfair to carry on with CPR, given what PC Harper had been through," he said.

He pronounced PC Harper dead at 23:45 BST.

Henry Long and his passengers, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, (l-r) deny murder

Also giving evidence on Thursday, PC Andrew Shaw described watching his colleague falling to the ground "like a waterskier" before being dragged for a mile behind the car.

A post-mortem examination found he suffered "appalling injuries" including a "very severe" brain injury.

Cole, of Paices Hill near Reading, Bowers, of Moat Close, Bramley, and Long have all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal a quad bike.

The trial continues.