Cop ‘fighting for his life’ in alleged attempted murder at shopping centre, court told

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“I thought I was going to die” – These are the words of a police officer who has described “fighting for his life” as part of a trial into an alleged murder at a shopping centre. PC Leon Mittoo took to the stand at Wolverhampton Crown Court to give evidence in the trial of brothers Maninder Hunjan, 26, and Parminder Hunjan, 37, who have been charged with attempted murder of two police officers following the incident at New Square Shopping Center in West Bromwich on July 21 last year.

PC Mittoo explained that a Section 60 order was in place on the day, to allow officers to stop people without the need to have reasonable grounds, after recent robberies in the area. He said two men came to his attention as it was a hot summers day and they were dressed in “heavy clothing”.

He, along with colleagues, followed the pair and tried to stop them when one “pulled a knife out a bag” before chasing a fellow officer, then turned his attention to PC Mittoo. The “bald-headed man” cornered the officer and took a swing towards him, before he “felt a stabbing motion” to his torso area, on his stab vest, he said.

READ MORE:Cops ‘slashed in attempted murder at shopping center’ were using stop and search powers, court told

They fell apart and Taser officers and members of the public helped to detain the alleged attacker, PC Mittoo said. He described shoppers screaming after seeing the blade.

“We noticed two males who came to my attention at first standing outside of Boots,” he added. “They were dressed in heavy clothing and it was a hot summers day, everyone was dressed in T-shirts and shorts, it was quite noticeable.

“I made a decision they were going to be searched. After that they gave us a couple of shady looks and then a female came out of the store, she had a blue carrier bag. She turned left with the two males and out of the precinct.

“As soon as they were on the escalators I activated my body worn camera. There were a few members of the public between us so it created a bit of space in between.

“At the top of the escalator I saw the three of them in the area of ​​Primark. There’s a couple of occasions one turned around and I knew they were aware we were tracking them.

“I saw officers in high visibility uniform between Shoe Zone and One Below, I held my three fingers to get them to stop. I then shouted out to the two males and one female to stop.

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“My plan was to find out what they were doing there and why. PC Willets came first and he would’ve been approaching from outside Sports Direct.

“At that point one of the males turned around and made a gesture to myself, he clenched his fists. We see it a lot where there is going to be conflict.

“The bald-headed brother took off his backpack and crouched down on the floor. I’ve reached and drawn my PAVA spray, which is pepper spray, and readied it.

“As he was reaching his bag my threat assessment changed, I thought he could have had a weapon so I pointed my PAVA at them. The bald-headed guy reached inside his bag, I saw a glint of what I consider to be a knife.

“It stood out like a sore thumb, it was obviously a knife. He drew that out his bag and I’ve immediately my PAVA spray at both of them. I hit both in the face.

“My focus switched to the bald-headed man as he’s the one with the weapon. He’s taken a swing at PC Willets who was able to step back and get out the way.

“He’s then moved forward to do it again and I’ve sprayed him again. People were screaming, obviously members of the public have seen a knife.”

PC Mittoo then described the “bald-headed man” chasing after another police officer “waving the knife”. “At that point I thought the PAVA had taken effect because from what I could see he was squinting, struggling to keep his eyes open,” he added. “His intention was to get PC Priest.”

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“I chased him and sprayed him another two or three times with my PAVA and it was empty. He turned around and engaged with me then. I tried to back up but got caught in between a big plant pot and he sort of cornered me then .

“He was holding a knife in a high motion above his head and he took a swing towards me. I put out my left hand to block it and he cut me on my hand.

“I punched him but I could feel he hit me somewhere and my glasses and ear piece came out and got knocked onto the floor. He came around my left and I felt a stabbing motion to my torso area, I can’t how many times he tried to stab me, my stab vest protected me.

“He came around my back area and I thought I can’t let him stay there so I tried to turn and hit him again and I hit him again, I still had a can of PAVA in my hand and I think I hit him to his left side.

“We both sort of dropped to the ground and he dropped the knife right in front of me. He’s on the floor in front of me, the knife is in between us, he’s gone to grab it and I’ve grabbed it by the blade I think I’ve flicked it to my left away from immediate danger.

“I demanded the bald-headed man showed me his other hand. He landed on his arm and I wasn’t sure if he had anything else on him. The Taser officer came and a few members of the public helped detain him.”

PC Mittoo added: “I thought I was going to die. I just did everything I could. It was a fight for survival.

“I’ve got to put everything I can into every strike and grapple as if I don’t I’m a dead man. I was intending to survive, nothing more, if I didn’t do what I did there may have been another story.”

The pair have also denied wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and a third charge of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

The trial continues.

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