A POLICE roadside investigator has told a court that the car driven by Stephen McHugh in Oswestry, killing Rebecca Steer, was on a pavement for no more than four seconds.  

PC Christopher Duffner appeared at the trial of Stephen McHugh who denies the murder of Miss Steer in Oswestry last October plus grievous bodily harm against Kyle Roberts, at Stafford Crown Court on Friday.  

McHugh, of Artillery Road, Park Hall, has admitted manslaughter and actual bodily harm against Miss Steer and Mr Roberts respectively but the Crown has not accepted this.  

PC Duffner was the first roadside collision forensic officer on the scene around 20 minutes after the incident and carried out an investigation.  

Under questioning from lead prosecutor Kevin Hegarty KC, PC Duffner set out a number of finds he made while carrying out the forensic investigation of both the crime scene and the Volvo car. 

PC Duffner told the court that items founds on the floor in the immediate aftermath of the accident included a section of chain bracelet, some fragments of a front car light with a bloodstain around 11 metres away from the incident.  

READ MORE: Rebecca Steer murder accused 'shouted threat' before incident, witness claims

He also told the court that he had examined the car once it had been recovered from Harlech Court, in Oswestry, and that there were signs of the car going through a collision with a pedestrian, such as dents in the bonnet and cracks in the number plate.  

The court heard from the officer that strands of hair were also found on the car’s undercarriage on the driver’s side of the car, completing largely procedural evidence.  

However, in cross-examination, Sebastian Gardiner, for the defence, raised an expert report which will be presented to the jury next week. 

He asked PC Duffner whether he agreed with the report’s assertion that the Volvo driven by McHugh only entered ‘one quart of the two-metre wide pavement’. 

PC Duffner confirmed that he agreed with the expert report and that the car was back on the road within four seconds since McHugh entered the kerb.

He also agreed that the speed of the car was likely to be less than 10 mph.  

READ MORE: Live: Day three of the Rebecca Steer murder trial

The police officer was asked whether he found evidence of ‘wheelspins', as per some prosecution witness evidence, but added that he did not see any, although it did not always occur.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, one witness to the incident testified that McHugh has issued a threat before mounting a kerb. 

Katie Davies was one of multiple witnesses to give evidence on Friday morning and told the court that she had been stood in Grill Out, in Willow Street, and had been trying to organise a lift home after a night out in Oswestry.  

She told Kevin Hegarty KC, prosecuting, that while on the phone, she saw McHugh with an ‘angry facial expression’. 

Ms Davies added that she then heard the defendant shout at a group of people ‘I’ll *******get you or show you’ and that it was very clear.  

In cross-examination, Paul Hynes KC, defending, suggested that the ‘threat’ was in fact ‘I can’t be bothered with you’. 

But Ms Davies said: “Absolutely not – he shouted a threat.” 

Earlier, evidence was heard in court from witnesses told the court that McHugh had ‘revved the car’ and that his actions had been ‘aggressive’.  

The trial continues.