Drug dealer who mowed down cop with car jailed
PC thrown in the air ‘thought he was going to die’
A DRUG dealer who mowed down a policeman in a murder bid has been jailed for 13 years.
Zeng Xing Yu, 49, ploughed into PC Neil Kerr, 37, on Devonshire Gardens Lane next to the upmarket Hotel du Vin in Glasgow’s Hyndland on July 21, 2020. Mobile phone footage caught Yu driving at the PC as he and colleagues swooped on a cannabis deal. PC Kerr told a jury he “thought he was going to die” as he was “propelled into the air”. Yu was yesterday locked up at the High Court in Paisley having been convicted of attempted murder as well as being concerned in the supply of cannabis. Judge Fiona Tait sentenced him to 10 years for trying to kill the constable, with three years added for the drug offence. Co-accused Wang Wen, 30, pled guilty mid-trial to being concerned in the supply of cannabis and was sentenced to 50 months.
The court heard plain-clothed officers in three unmarked police cars were in the area with intelligence a “drugs transaction” was taking place.
PC Kerr was with colleague Rachel Walls, 30, but she left to get a better vantage point from the nearby hotel.
Then PC Kerr boxed in a Mercedes driven by Yu on Devonshire Gardens Lane.
He got out of the police car while two colleagues approached Yu’s driver’s side stating they were officers and ordered him to get out.
PC Kerr stopped in front of the Mercedes when it suddenly “came towards” him.
Prosecutor John McElroy asked what happened next. PC Kerr said: “I managed to get a slight jump on the car and put both hands on it. I hit my head and shoulder off the windscreen of the car. I travelled with the car and was on the bonnet for a few seconds.
“I was aware my car was on the other side – I thought I was going to be crushed.
“I felt myself propelling in the air and felt myself hitting the cobbles on the ground. My head and left shoulder smashed against the ground. “I thought I was going to die.” PC Kerr said the car came to a stop but he could hear the engine revving.
Colleagues then arrested Yu and Weng, who was in the back seat.
PC Kerr suffered a bleeding head wound as well as an injured ankle and shin. He was off work for twoand-a-half months after his ordeal.
Yu was also convicted after the trial of obstructing other officers in the lane. He was sentenced to 12 months for that crime to run concurrently with the 13-year jail term.