Driver 'sorry' over police deaths

Leayon Dudley's memory of the crash is 'patchy'

A labourer accused of murdering two police officers in a high speed collision has told a court he felt "totally ashamed and totally sorry" over their deaths.

Leayon Davi Dudley, 39, denies deliberately driving his van into a patrol car and said he was trying to pass the vehicle when the accident happened.

He said his memory of the crash, in which Pcs Andrew Munn and Bryan Moore were killed, was "extremely patchy" and he just remembered swerving to avoid a ditch.

Mr Dudley, of Acocks Green, Birmingham, pleaded not guilty to murdering the Leicestershire Police officers.

He was being followed by police along the A42 in Leicestershire after being spotted speeding earlier in Birmingham when the crash happened near Worthington on 15 August last year.

As soon as I thought undertake, I turned to the left and up a kerb which shocked me because I didn't realise it was there

Leayon Dudley

He told the jury at Stafford Crown Court on Tuesday he remembered a police Land Rover pulling level with him before he gestured at the driver to get back and began to swerve across the road.

He then saw blue flashing lights ahead of him and realised there was a patrol car in the first lane of the road.

Mr Dudley said: "As I got closer, I realised it was stationary and the second I realised it was stationary, the thought came into my head to undertake.

"As soon as I thought undertake, I turned to the left and up a kerb which shocked me because I didn't realise it was there.

"The next thing I thought I saw was a big drop. I turned back to stop myself going down the ditch and next thing I know, I am lying on my side in the van."

Pcs Bryan Moore and Andrew Munn both died

Brian Escott-Cox QC, defending, asked Mr Dudley: "Did you deliberately drive into that car?"

He replied: "I did not."

He later told the court that following the crash, a police officer climbed in through the window of the van and began stamping on his head and kicking him.

Mr Escott-Cox asked him: "How do you feel about the deaths of these two police officers now?"

Mr Dudley replied: "Totally ashamed, totally sorry."

The trial continues.