Escaped man 'drove over officer'

Det Con Catherine Corbett suffered a severe head injury

An on-the-run con man ran over a female detective leaving her with a serious head injury as he tried to evade arrest near Heathrow Airport, a court heard.

Rashpal Singh, 43, from West Bromwich, reversed and sped off as Det Con Catherine Corbett was leaning over to speak to his wife in November 2007.

She was "catapulted backwards" when the car door hit her, the Old Bailey heard.

Mr Singh denies causing grievous bodily harm with intent, two counts of actual bodily harm and dangerous driving.

Alex Lewis, prosecuting, said six officers in plain clothes had surrounded Mr Singh's car as he dropped his wife off at work at a hotel in Bath Road, Hayes, west London.

'Twenty-five aliases'

Mr Singh "was a fugitive from justice" and "determined to maintain his liberty at any cost", Miss Lewis said.

She added: "He went on to ram the police car behind him and then the police car in front.

"He continued to hit two other officers who were on foot before he managed to effect his escape."

Det Con Corbett, a West Midlands Police officer, was treated in hospital for a fractured skull and severe head injury but the other officers suffered only minor injuries.

Singh, who had escaped from prison 11 months earlier, drove off but was later recaptured after being spotted driving back to the West Midlands.

The court heard he had about 25 aliases and had been jailed for six-and-a-half years in November 2005 in Birmingham for 13 offences of deception and for failing to surrender.

He had fled custody after being allowed a day release from prison in Redditch, Worcestershire, in December 2006, and later married a Polish woman.

The hearing was adjourned until Wednesday.