A driver on trial for crashing his Mercedes into an electrician who was working on Plumstead High Street claims he was being chased by masked men. 

Harry Rogers, 26, faces a jury at Woolwich Crown Court after he was involved in a high-speed crash which left Elliot Ransom, who was installing BT cables under the pavement, trapped between the car and a wall. 

Rogers, of Freeman Avenue in Eastbourne, doesn’t deny that he was driving dangerously but claims he was scared for his life as he was being chased by another car. 

Prosecutor Nathan Palmer said that at 11.45am on April 16, 2020, Rogers drove at high speeds along Wickham Lane before hitting a bollard and driving diagonally across a roundabout. 

Mr Ransom heard the car coming and tried to move out of the way, but the Mercedes drove onto the pavement and hit him, leaving him sandwiched between the car and the wall. 

He screamed out “get this car off me” before his colleagues and passersby managed to lift it away.

This Is Local London: Emergency services at the scene of the crash that left Mr Ransom seriously injuredEmergency services at the scene of the crash that left Mr Ransom seriously injured (Image: Newsquest)

In a statement read in court, Mr Ransom said: “I could see my leg was floppy and I could see my right leg from the knee down was pointing in a different direction.” 

He was taken to Kings College Hospital where he remained until June, Prosecutor Nathan Palmer said.

One of the colleagues that Mr Ransom was working with that day said: “All I can say is thank God it didn’t kill him.”

Rogers and his passenger fled the scene without helping Mr Ransom, before they returned to the scene with their hands held out and told police: “We’re the ones you’re looking for.” 

Rogers told police he was driving the car, which was being chased by an Audi.

He said the Audi had bumped into his car and people inside the car included at least one man in a mask.

CCTV footage from moments before the crash shows Rogers' Mercedes driving erratically, followed closely behind by a grey car which was also driving at high speed.

He claims he fled the scene after the crash because he didn’t want to be stabbed by the men in the car, and hadn’t realised he had hit Mr Ransom. 

The trial continues.