A STOURBRIDGE police driver who hit and killed a young man on a pedestrian crossing told investigators he believed his speed was proportionate for the conditions at the time.

Pc Vaughan Lowe, who was on his way to an ‘immediate response’ incident, said he only saw Chinese student Zhang Xuan Wei when he was already in the confines of the crossing.

A jury heard the West Midlands Police traffic officer told Independent Police Complaints Commission investigators: “He literally came from my off-side into the path of the vehicle.”

Lowe, aged 43, has pleaded not guilty at Warwick Crown Court to causing the 24-year-old Birmingham City University student’s death in April 2012 through careless driving.

Wei was killed when he was struck by an unmarked police BMW driven by Lowe as he used a pelican crossing on the A34 New Town Row, Birmingham, at around 7pm as he and a friend were heading to Newtown Shopping Centre to get a take-away.

After crossing the first part of the dual carriageway, Wei had ‘walked or jogged’ onto the second part of it to get across the outbound carriageway.

It is alleged that although Lowe, who was responding to a call about a car which had failed to stop for other officers, had reduced his speed from 62 to 52mph, he was still driving too fast.

Prosecutor Graham Reeds QC said: "His driving fell below the standard of a competent and careful driver."

The jury heard Lowe was interviewed by IPCC investigator Clara Harriott and a colleague in August 2012.

He told them he was in uniform with another officer in an unmarked BMW when he heard a radio transmission about a sighting of an Audi S3, which had previously made off from officers.

Lowe said: "It was in an area notoriously linked to guns and criminality."

The car had been spotted in Aston, about a mile from where he was at the time just off New Town Row.

Responding to the ‘immediate response’ request, he said he pulled out onto New Town Row and put on the BMW’s blue lights and siren before going through red traffic lights at a junction.

He explained it was a three-lane carriageway, with the first of those being a bus lane, and said: “As it was clear I decided to take that lane.”

As he approached the junction with Milton Road he said he could see in the distance the pelican crossing ahead with its red light towards him.

He added: "As I got about 100 metres from the crossing the lights had begun to flash on amber towards me.

“There were no persons approaching from the nearside. I can see no persons to the off-side of the crossing, and there were no people on the crossing.

“As I got into the confines of the crossing Mr Zhang has run in front of my vehicle on the crossing.”

The jury has heard Lowe, who said he was aware the speed limit on the road was 30, had been doing up to 62mph in the bus lane and when he first moved into lane three, reducing his speed to 52mph as he approached the crossing.

He told the investigators: “I believed we were attending a possible serious offence linked to guns and gangs.”

Asked whether he felt his speed was appropriate for the circumstances relayed to him and proportionate for the conditions, he replied: “Yes I did. I was in control of the vehicle.”

He said he would have a clear view of someone approaching the crossing from his nearside, but on the offside his view would be ‘more restricted’ due to a wall either side of the crossing.

Asked when he first saw Mr Zhang, he replied: “When I was actually in the confines of the crossing. He literally came from my off-side into the path of the vehicle.”

The trial continues.