Dunedin officer feared for life after car ramming

A police officer who was struck by a motorist posing as a Muslim extremist, who then pursued the officer with a hatchet, says he believed the man intended to kill him.

Ruairi Kern Taylor (25) pleaded guilty to attempting to cause serious bodily harm, intentional harm and assault with a weapon, and was jailed for three years and three months before Dunedin High Court this morning.

The Crown had previously dropped a charge of attempted murder.

The victim, Agent Steven Treloar, spoke publicly about the incident for the first time today.

The officer, who had six years of experience at the time, said it was something he didn’t want anyone to go through.

Const Treloar said he had trouble accepting the fact that a member of the community he served had turned against him for no apparent reason.

He also questioned his decision to flee the scene when Taylor chased him with the ax, instead of staying and protecting the public.

“I think he intended to kill me,” Const Treloar said.

Judge Rachel Dunningham said the facts of the case were “somewhat unusual.”

Taylor quit his job at a Tapanui business on September 4 of last year and then traveled to a store in Gore where he bought a hatchet.

He retrieved a sheathed knife from home and tied it to his leg before heading north in his Subaru.

He first chased an unidentified police car, but kept driving when he entered Gore Police Station.

Later, Taylor came across Const Treloar, who was sitting in his patrol vehicle, with his lights on, after he had stopped a motorist in Allanton, near Dunedin.

The defendant played “religious music” on his stereo and crashed his car into the back of the stopped police car.

Const Treloar’s head slammed into his windshield and the force diverted his vehicle towards the one he had stopped.

As Taylor smashed the officer’s windows with the ax, the victim used the police radio to call for backup.

He shuffled over the center console of the car and escaped through the passenger door as the defendant chased after him with the tomahawk raised above his head.

Taylor yelled “Allahu Akbar” (which means “God is cool”) while running, but gave up the chase after 40m.

He returned to the now empty police car, smashing both headlights and poking holes in its side panels with the gun, causing more than $ 30,000 in damage, the court heard.

Other units that came to the scene found Taylor wearing a police cap and jacket from Const Treloar’s car as he “shouted religious material from a Koran in his possession.”

He later told the police that he was not a practicing Muslim and that he wanted the police to shoot him.

The judge said Taylor’s playing on racist stereotypes about Islamic extremism was an aggravating factor.

“You have indirectly harmed the law-abiding Muslim community,” he said.

The crime was clearly premeditated, he said, as the defendant had armed himself and “used religious accessories” to heighten concern.

Defense attorney Sarah Saunderson-Warner said Taylor was not motivated by some sort of resentment against the officer involved or even the police in general.

It stemmed from a desire to harm himself, he said, and was triggered by “a series of stresses that built up in him and that he was ill-prepared to handle.”

A psychologist did not find a specific diagnosis of a mental health problem, but recommended follow-up.

Taylor was ordered to pay $ 2,000 for the “extensive and deliberate damage” he caused, to pay $ 20 a week once he was released from jail.