94MPH NO LIGHTS NO SIREN NO CHANCE; Hayley killed by traffic cop, jury told.

Byline: JEREMY ARMSTRONG

A TRAFFIC cop killed a girl of 16 as he drove at up to 94mph without flashing lights or sirens, a court heard yesterday.

Pc John Dougal was three times over the speed limit for the road when he hit Hayley Adamson, killing her instantly.

Tragically, the computer alert he was responding to later turned out to be a false alarm.

Hayley stood no chance as she stepped out in front of his high-powered Volvo, a jury at Newcastle crown court was told.

Members of her family wept in the public gallery as CCTV footage gave a horrific glimpse of her final moments.

It showed the teenager, who was dressed in white, being hurled into the air after she hesitated momentarily and tried to run out of the way. The court heard Pc Dougal, 41, had just been alerted to a suspect vehicle by a computer inside his patrol car.

He immediately gave chase at "extreme speed at night in a residential area" for what proved to be a false alarm. The jury heard the information on the police computer was out of date.

Andrew Dallas, prosecuting, said the Volvo accelerated from less than 30 mph to more than 90 mph in 600 yards.

Hayley, a pupil at Sacred Heart high school, had been out with two friends who were arguing when she tried to cross the road in Newcastle last May.

Mr Dallas said: "She appears to stop briefly before trying to run across the road to clear the path of the oncoming police car.

"The defendant, who was also in the agony of the moment braking and trying to steer the wheel clear of her and to the right, is unable to avoid collision.

She was projected into the windscreen which shattered."

multiple injuries and died at the scene.

Expert evidence suggested the Volvo was still travelling at between 68 and 72mph at the moment of impact.

Mr Dallas said: "The defendant had been using dipped headlights.

But he had deployed none of the warning devices that are available to him.

"He elected not to use his siren, his flashing blue lights and his flashing full beam headlights.

All were available to him at the touch of a button." The suspect Megane which the officer had been chasing contained a Czech family returning from a shopping trip.

It was driven "in a perfectly normal way", the court heard, with "nothing to suggest the driver was trying or evade police".

Mr Dallas said that Pc Dougal, could easily have followed it without travelling at such high speed.

He told jurors that members of the emergency services were allowed to ignore speed restrictions only if it did not put others at risk.

He added: "On any view, this was dangerous driving, whether undertaken by a civilian, a police officer or anyone else.

"There was simply no need or justification for it." Pc Dougal denies causing death by dangerous driving. The trial continues.

CAPTION(S):

THE VICTIM HAYLEY ADAMSON THE ACCUSED PC JOHN DOUGAL