Murderer thought he would lose his arm as police dog bit him, court told

A convicted murderer has told a jury he thought he was going to lose his arm as an "out of control" police officer let his dog continually bite him while on the ground.

Lee Junior Walker, 34, is one of five criminals on whom Police Constable Paul Jackson, 36, allegedly set German Shepherd dog Jerry, "to vent his contempt" for them and inflict "gratuitous violence", on various dates between August 2015 and September 2016.

Walker, who was subsequently jailed for life after stabbing a man to death, was produced from HMP Garth on Tuesday to give evidence at Preston Crown Court.

The Crown say the Greater Manchester Police dog handler was involved in a pursuit of a Vauxhall Vectra in August 2015, in which Walker was a passenger.

During the chase the Vectra was abandoned on tram tracks in Wythenshawe, Manchester, and Walker jumped out and ran off, the court was told.

Walker said he was "ready to give up" after Jerry caught up with him and attached himself to his left ankle.

But, he said, Jackson immediately punched him in the mouth on arrival and then grabbed him by his arms as Jerry carried on biting his leg.

The dog then bit different parts of his body as he was pulled by the officer, and he thought he was punched again before he was kicked, Walker continued.

Later he said Jackson pulled Jerry off him "five or six times" before freeing him to bite him in the same place on his left arm.

Asked by prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford about the demeanour of the officer, Walker said: "He was grinding his teeth and calling me names, not to mention the punching, the kicking and the dog biting.

"I was just begging him 'please get the dog off me'.

"It got to the stage where I could feel its teeth in my arm, touching my bone.

"I thought 'I am going to lose my arm'.

"It was horrendous, the pain was unbearable.

"There were tiny bits of flesh, skin and gravel, everything, mixed on the floor."

Jurors were told Walker had about 35 convictions since 2002 including for offences of causing grievous bodily harm and robbery.

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In January 2018 he was jailed for life after he pleaded guilty to the murder of a man named Shaun Murphy - not known to him - who he stabbed in the chest as he sat in a car.

Paul Greaney QC, defending Jackson, said he would be suggesting to Walker that he had told a "series of lies" and had "deliberately exaggerated" his account of the August 2015 incident.

Walker denied being the sole occupant and driver of the Vectra and explained to Mr Greaney he had accepted a lift from "a friend of a friend" whose name he did not know.

He said he did not recall being in the same vehicle just four minutes before, when it was involved in another police pursuit nearby.

Walker denied kicking Jerry, and forcing the dog to defend itself when he was said to have put his arm around its head.

He disagreed with Mr Greaney's assertion that Jackson had acted professionally at all times and at no stage had punched or kicked him.

Jackson, from Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, denies five counts of wounding with intent.

Police Constable Paul Lockett, 37, from Altrincham, Greater Manchester, has pleaded not guilty to misconduct in a public office and aiding and abetting one of his colleague's alleged assaults.

The trial continues on Wednesday.