Policeman clung to side of car

A policeman told a jury how he clung to the side of a Mercedes car as it zig-zagged at up to 80mph along a busy motorway.

Pc Geoffrey Poyser told Chelmsford Crown Court he went into a "blind panic" as the car sped down the M11 near Stansted Airport, Essex, in October last year.

At one point driver Joe Butler, 25, who denies attempting to murder Pc Poyser, looked down at him and said: "You are going to die, you bastard", the officer told the court.

Pc Poyser, who was 53 at the time of the incident, eventually rolled away as the car slowed to 30mph.

He was left with severe bruising and cuts to his body and legs.

Pc Poyser and his colleague Pc Lorraine Mann, who was 38, stopped unemployed Mr Butler, of Essex Road, Bognor Regis, Sussex, for speeding through roadworks on the southbound carriageway at junction 8.

Clung on swinging door

He said Mr Butler, who was with his 24-year-old girlfriend Sarah Auld, punched him when told he was being arrested on suspicion of being a disqualified driver.

Mr Butler drove off as Pc Poyser reached through the driver's window to take the ignition keys.

Pc Poyser said he clung on to the swinging open door as the car sped off.

Matthew Gowan, prosecuting, told the jury the Mercedes sped away leaving Pc Poyser in the motorway. It was later found abandoned.

Mr Butler was arrested two months later. The trial continues.