Police officer saw colleague lying on ground after being hit by car, trial hears

A police officer has told a court of the moment she saw her colleague lying unresponsive on the ground after he had been run over.

Zeng Xing Yu, also known as Wenji Yu, is accused of driving a car into Pc Neil Kerr on July 21 last year, striking him on the head and the body and then driving with him on the bonnet.

The charge read out to the jury at the High Court in Paisley said Yu then crashed into another car in an attempt to murder him at Devonshire Gardens Lane in Glasgow’s west end, which caused the officer to fall to the ground.

The 49-year-old is also accused of resisting arrest, and is said to have repeatedly refused to leave his car, lashed out with his arms and then struggled with three other officers as they tried to detain him.

She went into nearby Hotel de Vin for a viewpoint and, as she did, a flurry of activity happened in the street with people loading the car with weighted bags, and more men approaching the vehicle with one swinging what she described as an empty Sports Direct bag.

The court was told she lost sight of what was happening, but she said she heard her colleague shouting “police” and “stop” quite loudly.

The 30-year-old plain clothes police officer then heard a loud bang, the court was told, and she rushed down the stairs of the hotel and made her way to the Devonshire Gardens Lane.

“He was lying on the ground when I got there,” she told the court. “It was hard to tell how he was, but he wasn’t moving.”

He been given first aid by a passer-by, she said, so she helped Yu and used police evidence bags as a cushion for his head.

She said moments before, when she first got to the scene, he had been resisting arrest and had pulled his arms up to his chest.

Yu has pleaded not guilty to attempting to murder the police officer.

He has lodged a special defence, and said he believed he was under attack from a number of armed men and he was in a state of fear and alarm.

Nicola Brunt, a scene examiner with Police Scotland, also gave evidence on Wednesday.

She spoke about images she took of the scene after the incident.

The 42-year-old was taken through the images of damage to vehicles by prosecutor John McElroy, and the jury was also shown images of a police radio and handcuffs in the road with blood staining.

And they also were presented an image of what she described as a police baton on the floor.

Donald Findlay QC, representing Yu, said it looked like a “cosh”. He asked if it was possible for vehicles to pass each other at the time, and Miss Brunt said you might have to mount the pavement to be able to do so.

The court also viewed security camera footage of the moments just before the alleged attack, in which a number of men can be seen rushing to the Mercedes C-Class saloon Yu is said to have used.

Yu is also charged along with 31-year-old Wang Wen of being concerned in the supply of cannabis, a class B drug, in Montague Lane and Devonshire Gardens Lane, which both deny.

Judge Fiona Tait told the jury, appearing by video link, the case is expected to last until Wednesday.

The trial continues.