Death driver 'abused police'

Leayon Dudley has denied two charges of murder

A man accused of killing two police officers by ramming into their police car abused another officer who tried to rescue him from his smoking van, a court has heard.

Leayon Davi Dudley, 39, was apparently trapped inside an overturned van following a "catastrophic" collision which sent a patrol car into a fireball, it was claimed.

As one officer attempted to rescue him, Mr Dudley repeatedly punched and swore at him.

CS gas was then sprayed in an attempt to calm him, the court heard.

A jury at Stafford Crown Court heard Mr Dudley had been drinking and had had a row with his girlfriend when he was originally spotted by police in Birmingham.

He refused to stop and jumped two red lights as a procession of police cars gathered to follow him for more than 50 miles across two counties.

Pcs Bryan Moore and Andrew Munn were both killed

The pursuit ended when he mounted a curb and deliberately smashed into a patrol car, killing two officers who had just stepped outside it, the court heard.

Pc Andrew Munn, 37, took the full impact of the van and was killed instantly.

His Leicestershire Police colleague, Bryan Moore, 39, suffered massive injuries and died several hours later in hospital.

Pc Marcus Mc Cormick told the court on Wednesday that he was following the van along the A42 near Worthington in Leicestershire when the collision occurred in the early hours of 15 August last year.

Window smashed

The officer, from Solihull, West Midlands, said: "We were some distance back from the vehicle approaching a slight crest in the road which the van had just passed over.

"There was a catastrophic collision and an explosion in front of us then we came onto the scene."

He spotted smoke coming from the white van and smashed a window to help free the driver.

He told the court that as he climbed into the van, Mr Dudley stood up, punched him and said: "I am holding you f****** personally responsible for this."

Charges denied

Mr Dudley then continued trying to punch the officer before he was sprayed with CS gas and finally brought out of the vehicle, it was alleged.

Mr Dudley was arrested and told that a police officer had been killed in the collision.

"He just replied in a loud enough voice, 'F*** him'," Pc McCormick told the court.

Mr Dudley, of Oakhurst Road, Acocks Green, Birmingham, denies murdering the two Leicestershire Police officers.

The case continues.