Court hears moment car struck Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming in Nelson carpark

Source: Radio New Zealand

A policeman has told the High Court how two of his fellow officers did not have enough time to get out of the path of a speeding car, before the collision that sent them flying through the air in a Nelson carpark.

Hayden Tasker, 33, is on trial for murdering senior sergeant Lyn Fleming and seriously injuring senior sergeant Adam Ramsay in the early hours of New Year’s Day, in 2025. He has admitted three charges of dangerous driving, but has denied that he intended to kill or hurt the pair.

Constable Jonathan Fris told the Christchurch High Court how he was working that New Years Eve and had driven a patrol car into the Buxton Square carpark shortly after 2am to deliver a summons book to another officer.

He was talking to Ramsay through the driver’s window, with Fleming standing close by.

“We just heard this really loud accelerating, and in my mind I was thinking, well, that’s a vehicle travelling way too fast in the carpark.”

Fris said he looked over to see the car coming diagonally towards him.

He said there was no time to react and Ramsay and Fleming managed to “get out half a yell and not even take sort of half a step” before the car struck them.

“There was a flash of white as the car went past my window and just heard a massive bang and then sort of, I looked up, I could see just their bodies and like police uniform tumbling through the air.”

He said he saw Ramsay hit the ground by the other patrol car, while Fleming went “flying through the air and disappeared out of sight”.

Fris said he was in disbelief and thought it was an accident, until he saw the Honda Odyssey change direction and drive away.

“I didn’t see any brake lights. It didn’t look to slow down. It didn’t stop to assist or render aid or anything. It just took off.”

He tried to get out of the patrol car but the door was jammed shut. He said he was trying to see where the Honda Odyssey had gone, when he heard yelling and saw the car drive towards another police patrol car and ram it.

Fris said he drove his patrol car around to box the Odyssey in an attempt to prevent it from fleeing and he saw other officers apprehend the driver.

Once out of the car, he went to check on Ramsay, who was lying on his side with blood coming from his head and then Fleming, who was on her back and unresponsive. He then directed paramedics to the pair when they arrived on the scene.

Maxwell Malcolm also gave evidence on Wednesday. He was walking across Buxton Square in the early hours of New Year’s Day with a friend, when he heard a car revving its engine.

He told the court he assumed it was “probably another hooligan”, but the sound got louder and he saw a car driving towards them.

“I remember just jumping out of the way and [the car] was centimetres close to my left leg.”

Malcolm said he was in “fight or flight mode” and checking his surroundings, when he saw the car loop back and hit Ramsay and Fleming.

“We’re like, we need to find cover so we ended up running behind one of the trees.”

A witness, who sought witness protection and can’t be identified, had been in central Nelson to celebrate New Years Eve with friends and was sitting in Buxton Square in the early hours of the morning.

The woman said she watched the two police officers get hit by the car and do “somersaults in the air, like how you see in movies when people get hit”.

She heard someone call for help and said she went towards Ramsay, who had less people around him. She was crouched down beside him, with one arm on the patrol car when it was rammed, shunting the car forwards and she “felt her arm snap”.

Her arm was broken in two places and required two surgeries, to insert and remove metal plates and screws.

Katya Armitage, who had also been in central Nelson to celebrate New Years Eve, told the court how she had been in Buxton Square with her sister that morning.

The pair had bought kebabs, used the toilets in the centre of the carpark and had stepped back out into the square, when a car went flying past them and Armitage saw it hit Fleming.

“The car was going so fast that she actually flipped onto her back and rolled underneath the car and skidded, and you could just hear her vest sliding against the concrete and landing almost in front of us.”

Armitage said the driver then turned back to head in the direction he had come from.

“His wheels squeaked as he was turning around the tree, realigned his car and went full speed at the parked police car.”

The Crown argues Hayden Tasker had murderous intent when he drove his white Honda Odyssey at the two officers, while his defence says he was depressed and drunk at the time, and the tragedy was a result of him trying to take his own life.

The trial continues on Thursday, with more witnesses to be called by the Crown.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand