16 June 2024 , 11:28
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New footage of a police car ramming a cow shows the full extent of the horrific incident - as onlookers claim they pleaded with the officer.
Disturbing footage shows Surrey police ramming an escaped cow with a police truck in Staines-upon-Thames at on Friday night. Mum-of-three Davinder Kaur filmed the ramming from her house and has released further footage today (16).
The 49-year-old said: “It was in front of my house. The cow is going through the road, through the footpath. It’s a very small one. Someone called the police. He was very scared to come to the road. The police car hit it. After a few minutes he got up again. The police car hit him again. Then he was hit again. The police blocked it.
Police officers deliberately drove at a young calf in an attempt to neutralise the threat they believed it posed (/ SWNS)“It was hit around 11pm. Somebody told me it had escaped in Staines. When he hit it we were shocked, very shocked. It was very small, not a big cow. It was no harm to anyone. He was very scared. Everyone was shouting ‘why hit it, why hit’. He [the police officer] was telling us to go back. I don’t know where the mind of the driver was.”
The scared animal is believed to have escaped from a nearby field and had been causing traffic delays as it ran along local streets. Witnesses say the officers tried to calm the animal for a couple of hours but decided to ram the uncontrollable animal at around 11pm.
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In the sickening footage the police officer appeared to line his truck up as the cow entered the middle of the road before ramming it at speed. As it flails around in the road trying to stand the unnamed officer than proceeds to hit the animal again, trapping its head under the bumper.
The young cow was rammed twice by a Surrey Police car (Pixel8000)Witnesses can be heard shouting "what the f*** was that?" in reaction while a group of locals tried to help the injured cow. Reacting to the footage on Twitter, Home Secretary James Cleverly branded the incident as 'unnecessary'. In a post he tweeted: "I can think of no reasonable need for this action. I've asked for a full, urgent explanation for this. It appears to be unnecessarily heavy-handed."
Police said with support from a member of the public, the cow was moved to a nearby farm. The owner has been located and the cow’s injuries have been assessed by a vet.
Chief Inspector Sam Adcock said: “I know that this has caused distress and I’d like to thank the community for their concern. The decision to use the police car is one that was only taken after other methods to stop the cow had failed. There will be an investigation into the actions that led to this, but our focus at all times is on ensuring the safety of the public. I know there are videos circulating of this incident, which the public may find distressing. I would ask that these videos are sent directly to us to help with our investigation.”