{"id":581875,"date":"2025-11-20T05:19:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T05:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/581875\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T05:19:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T05:19:16","slug":"cop-tells-court-he-was-terrified-as-man-chased-him-with-chainsaw-in-paisley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/581875\/","title":{"rendered":"Cop tells court he was ‘terrified’ as ‘man chased him with chainsaw in Paisley’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cHe was chasing after me with the chainsaw, holding the chainsaw up, running after me.”Police Scotland crime scene on Glasgow Road near Paisley<\/p>\n

A police officer has told a court he was \u201cterrified\u201d when he found himself being chased by a man wielding a chainsaw in Paisley<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n

Liridon Kastrati, 32, is accused of ramming a car into a marked police vehicle and then brandishing a chainsaw at officers<\/a> in the Renfrewshire town on May 6, 2024.<\/p>\n

It is alleged he stole a black Volkswagen car<\/a> on the town\u2019s George Street and drove it \u201cat excessive speed\u201d, before mounting the pavement and colliding with a police car containing two officers.<\/p>\n

It is alleged Kastrati then pulled a chainsaw out of a bag and ran at officers while shouting and swearing.<\/p>\n

Kastrati has denied attempted murder, as well as a breach of the peace and motoring offences.<\/p>\n

On the opening day of the trial on Wednesday, Paisley Sheriff Court<\/a> heard evidence from Police Constable Gary Cowan, who had been behind the wheel of the police car when it was allegedly rammed by Kastrati.<\/p>\n

He said he had been at the junction of Buchlyvie Road and Glasgow Road when something struck the vehicle from the right-hand side with an \u201calmighty bang\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"AA police car crashed into a wall by Glasgow Road(Image: Paisley Crowd\/facebook)<\/p>\n

He told the court some of the vehicle\u2019s airbags inflated, and that it was pushed round to the left so it ended up facing a house on the corner of the junction.<\/p>\n

He said when he \u201ccame to\u201d he could see a black car up on the pavement in front of him that looked damaged from the collision.<\/p>\n

Pc Cowan said a man then got out of the driver\u2019s side door of the black car, looked at the police car and then \u201cbegan to run away\u201d.<\/p>\n

The officer said he began approaching the man with the intention of arresting him, but that when he was \u201cabout 10 metres\u201d away the man returned to his vehicle and got out a chainsaw.<\/p>\n

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He said after removing the guard covering the blade of the chainsaw, the man started it by lowering it down to one side and pulling on its cord.<\/p>\n

Asked what he could hear at that point, the officer explained: \u201cAs soon as I head that (chainsaw) engine start I heard he appeared to shout \u201cf*** the police.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that point, I started to create distance between myself and him, and started to run towards Glasgow Road.\u201d<\/p>\n

The officer explained the man began \u201csprinting\u201d after him, and that he was continuing to shout, \u201cf*** the police\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was chasing after me with the chainsaw, holding the chainsaw up, running after me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could hear the chainsaw revving.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old told the court: \u201cI thought if I don\u2019t create distance he is going to kill me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked what he thought the man could do with the chainsaw, he said: \u201cSaw my arms off, chop my head off,\u201d adding that he was \u201cterrified\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pc Cowan told the court the chase lasted about 100 metres, and that he was constantly checking over his shoulder to see how close his pursuer was.<\/p>\n

He said, as he was running, he was trying to radio for support, saying to the control room: \u201cI need firearms support just now. I\u2019m being chased by a man with a chainsaw.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually he said the man stopped running and put the chainsaw on the ground, at which point the officer said he was able to use pepper spray on him.<\/p>\n

Pc Cowan said: \u201cI was asking him to get on the ground and he wasn\u2019t listening.<\/p>\n

\u201cI removed my baton and struck him with the baton on his legs.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said, at this point, other officers joined him and they were able to make the arrest.<\/p>\n

The court also heard evidence from Kevin McDonald, who had been doing gardening work at the Happy Smiles dental practice on Glasgow Road when he heard shouting and what sounded like a \u201csmall motorbike\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said the person shouting had a \u201cforeign accent\u201d, and that they seemed to be saying, \u201c\u2018I don\u2019t want to be here\u2019, or words to that effect\u201d.<\/p>\n

He told the court he moved to the front of the building, where he could see a male police officer running along the road, with a man running after him with a chainsaw.<\/p>\n

Mr McDonald said he saw the man put the chainsaw on the ground, before being arrested by \u201cfive or six\u201d police officers who approached from the other side of the road.<\/p>\n

Asked to identify the man who had been holding the chainsaw, he pointed to Kastrati in the dock.<\/p>\n

The court was also shown photos of the chainsaw, which had a pale blue and dark blue handle and a long blade.<\/p>\n

Kastrati was present in court dressed in a green fleece jacket, and followed proceedings with the assistance of an Italian interpreter.<\/p>\n

The trial continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cHe was chasing after me with the chainsaw, holding the chainsaw up, running after me.”Police Scotland crime scene…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7826],"tags":[748,30,918,4884,8940,712,16,15,2188],"class_list":{"0":"post-581875","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glasgow","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-courts","10":"tag-glasgow","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-paisley","13":"tag-scotland","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-volkswagen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115580342781302646","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}