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The convertible car at the scene of the accident
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COPPER’S HORROR AT EMIRATES
PC is crushed between two vehicles during match
A POLICE constable suffered severe leg injuries on Wednesday night when he was crushed between a riot van and a convertible car during the Arsenal vs PSV Eindhoven Champion’s League match.
The 40-year-old officer, who has not been named, had been drafted in from neighbouring Camden to patrol in Holloway Road, close to the Emirates Stadium.
Police are unwilling to reveal exactly how the collision occurred but it left the officer crying out in pain as he was crushed between the two vehicles while still standing up.
Witness Ahmed Mussa, who works in an internet café a few metres from the scene of the collision, said: “I came outside and saw a policeman crushed between a car and a van.
“Another officer was holding him up around the waist trying to keep him calm.
“The injured policeman was crying for a couple of minutes and you could see the pain was just too much for him.
“After that he was moved gently to the ground. It must have been horrible for him.
“The ambulance came quickly and was here for about an hour treating the officer and the woman driver. The lady was really very shocked.”
Councillor Shelley Coupland, a former nurse, said: “The officer really looked in a bad way and his colleagues were very shocked.
“The ambulance crews were at the scene for up to an hour and a half and took the officer away attached to what looked like a life support machine.”
The force of the collision, which happened close to the junction with Ronalds Road, caused the front bumper of the Saab (pictured) to fall off.
The constable is recovering at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel with “wounds to his lower limbs” and possible fractures.
Yesterday (Thursday), police said he was in a stable condition and due to go into surgery. No one has been arrested.
The officer had been drafted in for the Champion’s League match from the West Hampstead Community Tasking Unit.
Officers from across London, and as far afield are Barking, are bussed in to police Arsenal games.
Chief Superintendent Barry Norman, who left his job as the borough’s police chief two weeks ago, had said: “It’s hugely frustrating that getting on for 150 (Islington) officers are directing pedestrians on match days.” Councillor Coupland said the amount of traffic caused by the new stadium meant such an accident was “sadly inevitable”.
She added: “From about 4.30pm on Wednesday, Holloway Road was just manic with a mixture of schoolchildren, people coming home from work and fans starting to arrive at the stadium.”
An Islington Police spokesman said: “Islington borough requires aid from other boroughs during times when matches are being played. This is so we can continue to police the borough for the safety of people living within it as well for the safety of persons attending matches.
“Without aid from other boroughs this would not be possible.”
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