A police officer was injured by a reversing car driven by a man using his hand to press the accelerator, a court heard.

The constable got his foot caught under the vehicle when it sped backwards after Steven Barker dived headfirst into the footwell from the back seat, it was alleged.

Prosecutor Gillian Batts yesterday told Bradford Crown Court the incident took place on July 25 in a car park at Weaverthorpe retail park, Tong Street, Bradford.

Barker was in the back seat of the Peugeot 407, his wife Tracey was the front passenger and the car was being driven by her sister.

As the car was being driven along Tong Street, a police van went past. Miss Batts said Barker, who knew police wanted to speak to him about an alleged assault on his wife, thought they were coming for him. She said the Peugeot pulled up in the car park. The police van pulled up in a nearby bay and PC Christopher Sheard got out.

Miss Batts said: “PC Sheard saw the defendant climb through the gap between the two front seats. It seemed to the officer that he was trying to get in the front of the car.“ The sister tried to get out and PC Sheard thought she was being assaulted. He got between the car and the driver’s door and tried to pull the defendant out.

Miss Batts said: “He saw the defendant reach into the footwell and heard the sound of the engine revving. He deliberately put his hand on the accelerator, causing the engine to rev. This defendant, even though he was doing it in an unconventional way, was in control of the car. He was driving it.”

She said the car reversed at speed. The officer’s foot was trapped beneath the car. The officer was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary with severe bruising to his leg and arm.

Miss Batts alleged: “The defendant was driving the car. He may not have been sat in the driver’s seat in the conventional driving position, but he was clearly controlling the direction of the vehicle. His standard of driving fell below that of a careful and competent driver.”

Miss Batts told the jury Barker had been disqualified from driving for ten years in 2007 for dangerous driving. Barker, 34, of Merchants Court, East Bowling, Bradford, pleads not guilty to causing PC Sheard actual bodily harm, dangerous driving, and driving while disqualified.

The trial continues.