KILL COPS!
AN injured policeman screamed: "Don't shoot, please, no!" moments before he was murdered by a gunman, a court was told yesterday.
But David Francis Bieber, who had already shot Pc Ian Broadhurst in the chest, took his 9mm semi-automatic in both hands, stood over him and shot him through the head as he lay bleeding beside his patrol car, said prosecutor Robert Smith QC.
Seconds earlier Bieber had fired at two other constables as they tried to flee - Neil Roper was injured in the back but James Banks "miraculously" escaped injury when the bullet hit his radio, said Mr Smith.
He added: "He used that handgun with accuracy to shoot all three of these police officers rather than face arrest.
But his motives went further than simply avoiding arrest, for having shot Pc Broadhurst he deliberately and purposefully aimed that gun at close range at that officer as he lay incapacitated on the ground and calmly shot him in the head."
The incident - including 34-year-old Pc Broadhurst's screams - was recorded on a machine in the patrol car.
The tape will be played to the jury, as will video from a camera on the windscreen.
After the killing Bieber fled, hijacking a car, said Mr Smith.
But the US born doorman - who used the false identity of Nathan Wayne Coleman, stolen from a dead American child - was found in a hotel room five days later.
Pc Broadhurst's widow Eilisa, 25, was led visibly upset from Newcastle crown court as she heard her husband's dying words read out.
She had watched from the public gallery, behind a glass panel less than two metres away from the dock where Bieber sat flanked by six police officers.
With her were her parents Martin and Pat Glen and her husband's family, including his mother Cindy Eaton, father Barry, stepmum Judith and brother Stephen.
The jury were told the incident began when Pcs Broadhurst and Roper spotted Bieber in a BMW with a false tax disc in Leeds last Boxing Day.
They asked him to sit in the back of the patrol car while checks were made.
Pc Roper, 45, realised the car was stolen and radioed for assistance with the arrest. Pc Banks, 27, arrived in his patrol car.
Mr Smith said: "The man was informed that the police intended to handcuff him.
"He claimed to be claustrophobic and he asked for the rear window to be wound down. He said, 'Can you let me out as I am on medication for claustrophobia and anxiety'." Mr Smith said as they all stood beside the car the "click" of the handcuffs being opened was heard on the tape.
He alleged that Bieber pulled the gun from his leather jacket "and within eight seconds he had fired five rounds.
"The first shot hit Pc Broadhurst in the chest as he stood on the pavement on the rear of the nearside of the car.
"Pc Roper had already turned his back and was trying to run. The second shot hit him from close range in the back ... entering in the abdominal area.
"There followed two shots in quick succession ... one hit Pc Roper in the right shoulder, the other hit Pc Banks's radio, miraculously missing his body.
"Pcs Roper and Banks were running from the scene. But Pc Broadhurst had suffered a very serious injury from the first shot.
"It had passed through his liver and pancreas, damaging major blood vessels. He was immediately incapacitated and was by then on the ground." Mr Smith went on: "A period of five seconds elapsed before the fifth shot was fired, during which time the assailant took the handgun in both of his hands and from a position standing over Pc Broadhurst, aimed and shot him through the head.
"When that shot was fired his arms were held above his face in a defensive gesture. The shot went through his left hand and right forearm and then through his head via his right eye."
He said the powder discharge from the gun was found on Pc Broadhurst's left hand, showing that Bieber only 15-24ins away.
Bieber ran off and allegedly tried to hijack a car but the two men in it drove away.
He was said to have told a couple parked nearby: "I don't want to kill you. I just want a lift." The man told him: "Take it. The keys are in the lock," before running off with his wife, who climbed out of the passenger seat as the gunman got in. Meanwhile Pc Roper had staggered to a block of flats and called for help on his radio, his blood smearing a window.
Pc Banks "could not understand why his radio was not working, still oblivious to how close he had come to being shot".
Bieber was arrested at a hotel in Gateshead, on January 1, allegedly saying to an armed officer: "You wouldn't shoot an unarmed man, would you?"
The prosecution alleged he had left a "compelling body of evidence" at the scene of the shootings, including DNA from a Galaxy wrapper found in the police car that was a billion to one match, said Mr Smith.
Bieber denies the murder of Pc Broadhurst and the attempted murders of Pcs Roper and Banks and possessing a 9mm pistol and 220 bullets. He admits having 298 9mm bullets. The trial continues.


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