Nurse with child in car runs over Essex Police officer after being stopped for speeding
A driver stopped for speeding ran over an Essex Police officer while she had her child in the back of the car.
Abiola Akilla didn’t have a licence or insurance when she was stopped by PC Caroline Green in Grays, Essex.
PC Green was on duty when she stopped the car, driven by Akilla, after she was found to be going over the speed limit on Stanford Road, Grays.
Akilla told PC Green that the vehicle wasn’t hers and she didn’t have her licence on her.As PC Green went to the front of the vehicle to take down down the car's registration number, Akilla reversed back onto the road.
PC Green then called on the radio for assistance when Akilla "drove over the top" of her and left the scene."Her front wheel went over my ankle, then she drove up my leg. I was in so much pain I thought she’d snapped my leg," said PC Green.
"I fell back and cracked my head on the concrete and she drove over my ribs and my right shoulder."I had a crushing feeling all over my body and was screaming in pain. She was so close to my head, and in between the first and second wheels going over me I managed to get into a foetal position.
"Then the back wheel went over my legs, pelvis and stomach," PC Green explained.
Akilla, who is a nurse, subsequently drove off. But a man stopped his car and phoned for an ambulance.
An air ambulance arrived and treated PC Green on the roadside before airlifting her to Royal London Hospital, where she stayed for a week.She suffered a chest injury with two broken ribs and three fractured ribs, abrasions and swelling to her right hand, a cut to the head and ligament damage to her right ankle.
She had problems with concussion for months afterwards and was later diagnosed with PTSD.
She wasn’t able to return to police work until December 2021, working from home rather than on the frontline.Akilla was arrested and charged with GBH with intent, but it took 17 months for her to be sentenced, on March 30, 2022, by which point the charge had been reduced to serious injury by dangerous driving.
When Akilla received a 30-month sentence and a six-year driving ban, PC Green said she was relieved but said that the implications of the incident will last "forever".She said: "Every day since that incident I’ve been on some form of recovery. The implications for her are short-lived, whereas for me they might be forever."I’ve been through 17 months of hell, mentally and physically, and continue to go through it – it’s like a life sentence for me.
"I had sleepless nights, I was already having psychological issues with what had happened but then I started getting headaches every single day, thinking about having to go to court."She added: :"Career-wise I don’t know where I fit now. I want to stay with the police, I don’t want to be ill-health retired, as I’m only 14 years into my career. But I only ever wanted to work in uniform on the frontline and I can’t do that anymore."The Essex Police Federation has supported Caroline through the past year-and-a half. She said: "I can’t fault the Federation. Laura Heggie – Essex Police Federation Chair - visited me in hospital the day after it happened and helped me with claims, and she’s been in contact throughout all this time. The Federation has also put me in contact with an anxiety coach, which really helped."