Policeman on driving death charge ‘did not expect student to run out’

Pc Rodney Craig Mills, 42, was driving his patrol car at nearly twice the speed limit without his lights or sirens when he hit and killed Jamie Haslett.

The 19-year-old student died at the scene from head injuries after being forced on to the bonnet of the car, hitting the windscreen and being thrown “a considerable distance” into the air.

Mills was going back to a police station to get equipment before responding to a call when he struck Mr Haslett in Sheffield in October 2010, Bradford Crown Court heard.

He was answering a call classed as “priority”, meaning it needed to be responded to within one hour. However, the police officer said he classed the call as an emergency and needed to get there “urgently”.

He told the court: “It was an elderly person requiring assistance. It was a silent 999 call. It was immediate to me. I needed to get up there urgently.”

He and colleague Pc Liam Stewart were returning to the police station to get equipment to gain entry to the property.

He was asked by his barrister Sam Green if he had considered the potential risks of travelling to the scene at speed. “Yes. I have to manage that,” he told the jury.

He said the rules for activating the blue lights and sirens were not “set in stone” but he had continually to assess the situation and any potential hazards as he drove.

“I have to do dynamic risk assessment while driving at speed,” he added.

He said the car’s flashing lights could blind other drivers and using the sirens in the early hours could lead to complaints.

Mr Green asked him if he expected a “young lad to run out very fast”.

“No,” he replied.

The jury has been told that one second and 26 metres before the collision, Mills was travelling at 58mph in a 30mph zone.

The officer did not see Mr Haslett, who was running across the road, until less than a second before the impact, the court heard.

Mills, of Owlthorpe Rise, Mosborough, Sheffield, denies causing death by careless driving.

The court heard that Mr Haslett, who was three times over the drink-drive limit, was returning to his student accommodation at around 3.45am on October 27 following a night out.

At the junction of Broad Lane and Mappin Street, he began to run across the road to get to the other side.

After the collision, Mills stopped and went to Mr Haslett but there was nothing he could do.

The trial continues.