News Service from House Harris

Vic: Police officer tells of fear when man pulls gun on him

MELBOURNE, Jan 28 AAP - A Victorian traffic policeman has told a court of his horror when a man he tried to pull over allegedly pointed a gun at him.

Jamie Robertson, 25, of Meadow Heights, is on trial accused of pointing a gun at the officer in Melbourne's north on the night of June 26, 2007.

He denies the allegation.

Senior Constable Todd Deary told the County Court he had intended to intercept Robertson during a routine traffic check.

When he began following him, he said the accused did three fast circuits of a roundabout in Dallas, in an attempt to lose him.

Robertson then lost control at a second roundabout and smashed his white Toyota into an oncoming car before fleeing on foot.

Sen Const Deary said as Robertson fled, he had reached into the back of his clothing and pulled out a 9mm or automatic handgun and pointed it straight at him.

"I thought that the person was going to shoot me," he said.

"I've never had a gun pointed at me before, after 10 years in the police force.

"My heart was racing. It took me a long time to recover.

"It's probably the one time in my 10-year career that I've genuinely been scared."

Crown prosecutor Kevin Doyle said Robertson pointed the gun at the officer for one to one-and-a-half seconds as he sat in his police vehicle.

Mr Doyle said Robertson denied producing a gun but admitted he was the driver in the crash and had fled the scene.

Two witnesses said they did not see Robertson with a gun or move his hands behind his back.

Defence lawyer Shane Gardner said the notion his client had a gun on him was a case of "horrible misunderstanding".

Mr Gardner suggested to Sen Const Deary during cross examination that it was dark, had been raining and it would have been difficult for him to see Robertson through his car window.

Sen Const Deary agreed the conditions would have made made it harder to see.

Robertson pleaded not guilty to using a firearm with intent to prevent arrest, threat to inflict serious injury and assault.

The trial continues.