Clayton Williams said he cried and felt scared and lost after fatally mowing down PC Dave Phillips with a stolen pick-up truck.
17:19, UK,Tuesday 15 March 2016
A teenage car thief accused of deliberately running over and killing a policeman has told his trial he was a "little boy lost" who "needed a cuddle" from his grandmother.
Clayton Williams, 19, said he cried and felt scared and lost after fatally knocking down PC Dave Phillips with a stolen pick-up truck and tried to call his relative Shirley Williams.
The defendant also agreed that following the collision he fled the scene, dumped the vehicle, had a shower at his aunt's house, got rid of his clothes which were burnt and gave his phone away.
Williams had earlier led police on an 80mph chase after stealing a Mitsubishi in a burglary on 5 October last year.
Father-of-two PC Phillips was deploying a stinger device to stop Williams, who allegedly deliberately drove at the policeman using the vehicle as a "weapon" in a "merciless and cowardly act".
Williams denies murdering the officer who was killed almost instantly from "catastrophic" injuries in Wallasey, Merseyside.
He has admitted the burglary where the car was stolen and aggravated vehicle taking.
He told the jury he had no intention of harming anyone but was trying to drive round the stinger spikes when he hit the officer at 50-80mph.
He had been released on licence from jail three weeks earlier after serving half of a nine-month sentence, for leading police on another pursuit in a car and crashing into a lamppost.
Williams said he fled the scene because he feared returning to jail and insisted he did not see PC Phillips crouching to deploy the stinger until the last seconds.
Prosecutor Ian Unsworth QC accused Williams of lying and that the officer was "clearly visible" to him, shown on video footage by a pursuing police car.
Williams said seconds after hitting the officer, he tried to phone his grandmother.
He said: "I just needed someone in my family to cuddle up to."
He continued: "I'm only a young boy. I have not got it in me to take someone's life. You are making me out to be something I'm not.
"I was scared. I needed someone, I needed my nan or someone. It's hard being chased and just come out of jail."
Mr Unsworth asked the defendant why he did not turn himself in.
Williams said: "I didn't know who to contact. At the time I just felt like a lost little boy. I just needed someone to talk to."
The trial continues.
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