Man accused of chainsaw attack shouted ‘I want the media here’, trial told

A man accused of attempting to murder four police officers shouted “I want the media here” as he waved a chainsaw at them, a court has heard.

Liridon Kastrati, 32, is accused of ramming a car into a marked police vehicle and then brandishing a chainsaw at officers in Paisley, Renfrewshire, in broad daylight on May 6, 2024.

It is alleged he stole a black Volkswagen car on the town’s George Street and drove it “at excessive speed”, before mounting the pavement and colliding with a police car containing two officers.

Kastrati is then alleged to have pulled a chainsaw out of a bag, started it, and run at officers while shouting and swearing.

He has denied attempting to murder four police officers, breach of the peace and motoring offences.

On the second day of his trial, the High Court in Paisley on Thursday heard evidence from Pcs Kelly Ferris and Gary Cowan, who had been in the police car when it was struck at about 1.30pm.

Pc Ferris, who had been in the passenger seat, said she was “completely dazed and quite scared” following the impact, and that the car was “filling with smoke” from its airbags.

She said when she got out of the car and started to look for Pc Cowan, who had got out of the vehicle first, she “heard the chainsaw just to my right hand side and looked in that direction”.

She continued: “I saw a male chasing my colleague down Glasgow Road.”

The 47-year-old said she began running after them, shouting to the man to “put the chainsaw down”, and at one point when she was “about a dozen paces” away he stopped running and turned to face her.

She told the court: “He was swinging the chainsaw back and forward, and he was shouting to ‘get the cameras, I want the media here, get the media here’.”

She said throughout the incident she focused on keeping her distance from the man, adding: “I knew if he got near me he would kill me.”

The court also heard evidence from Kastrati’s brother Leonard Kastrati, who said the black Volkswagen Passat used in the incident belonged to him.

The 29-year-old told the court that on May 6 he had been on his way back to Albania on a visit, and his brother had gone to his house on Glasgow Road and taken the car without his permission.

He said Kastrati did not have a UK driving licence at the time of the incident, and he confirmed the chainsaw used in the incident did not belong to him.

Leonard Kastrati also said his brother came to the UK “about seven years ago”, and that since his arrival he had experienced problems in relation to his immigration status.

In the afternoon, the court heard evidence from Dareusz Glinkowski, a mechanic who had been out on a “test drive” with a colleague on Glasgow Road when he saw the incident unfold.

He described seeing a police car stopped at the junction of Buchlyvie Road and Glasgow Road waiting to pull out, and a black car approaching the junction.

He said the black car started “accelerating, and then (went) left up on to the pavement and then he hit the police car”.

He said initially he and his colleague pulled over and got out to help with what he said they thought was “just a normal accident”.

However they stopped when they saw the driver of the black car get out a chainsaw, start it, and then begin chasing a police officer.

“At that point I turned around and started running to my car to save my life,” the 33-year-old told the court.

He said he and his colleague then began driving in the same direction the two men were running in, and they came up alongside the police officer so he could get into their car “to save his life”.

However, he said: “The police officer didn’t go to the car, (he) refused. He was a very brave man.”

Kastrati’s defence lawyer John Scullion KC challenged Mr Glinkowski’s account, saying a statement he gave police did not refer to him offering to let the officer into the car.

He also suggested the car mounting the kerb may not have been intentional.

The KC put it to the witness that one of the tyres had a “chunk” in it and this could be linked to the car striking the kerb, which he said “can cause someone to lose control of the car”.

He also played CCTV footage to the court showing the Volkswagen’s brake lights coming on just before the impact with the police car.

Mr Glinkowski maintained the driver had been “driving on the pavement”, and he could not see any reason why they would have done so other than to hit the police car.

Kastrati was present in court dressed in a green fleece jacket, and followed proceedings with the assistance of an Albanian interpreter.

The trial continues.