A ROUTINE vehicle check turned into a ride of terror for plain-clothes policeman David Holt when he was dragged for 50 yards by a car as he clung to a passenger door, a court was told.

Sgt Holt tried to get inside the speeding car as it reversed, but was thrown into and over another vehicle parked 50 yards behind.

The car smashed into the Fiat, hurling the officer on to the bonnet and windscreen and finally over the top of the car.

Sgt Holt was left lying injured in the road as the car continued reversing at speed, smashing into an ambulance as it escaped.

The driver, Kenneth Gregory, who was later arrested nearby, admitted driving off, but claimed he did not know the men were police officers and thought he was about to be robbed.

Gregory, aged 59, of Ainsworth Road, Radcliffe, appeared at Bolton Crown Court, where he has denied dangerous driving, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to Sgt Holt, and assaulting PC Christopher Walker causing actual bodily harm on June 15.

Richard Heap, prosecuting, said Sgt Holt and PC Walker had been in an unmarked police car which followed Gregory's Ford Fiesta from Castle Street in Bolton to Bradford Road.

The officers decided to stop the car at the traffic lights at the junction of Bradford Road and Green Lane in Great Lever. They drove their car round Gregory's vehicle and cut in front of his car and the officers jumped out. Both police said they showed their warrant cards clearly to the driver and Sgt Holt told the passenger to get out.

Sgt Holt told the jury he had been standing between the door and pavement when the driver suddenly slammed the car into reverse.

He said: "I realised that either I had to allow myself to be dragged or I had to try to get inside the car. The car continued to accelerate and I saw another vehicle about 40 metres behind us.

"The car swerved and I saw that I was between the car door and the other vehicle. I was smashed into the Fiat bonnet, windscreen, and the roof. I went over the top of the vehicle and landed in the roadway behind it."

The car sped off and was abandoned in nearby Oakleigh Drive. Officers arrested Gregory as he walked along the road.

(Proceeding)