I thought he would kill me

A WOMAN begged her boyfriend not to kill her moments before throwing herself out of his moving car and paralysing herself, a court heard.

Tracey Hurley, 25, of Penhill, leapt out of the vehicle following a furious row with 38-year-old Paul Bowell, Swindon Crown Court heard yesterday.

The mother-of-one and student at Swindon College, received serious spinal injuries and is now confined to a wheelchair.

Mr Bowell, who lived in Westbury Road, Penhill, is charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm and false imprisonment.

Jurors at the court were yesterday played a tape recording of two 999 calls made by Miss Hurley from the car on May 5 last year. She was heard screaming at Bowell, who was driving, to stop the car.

She said: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I love you, Paul. I am sorry."

In the second call, she was heard screaming: "I want to get out. Please stop the car. I love my daughter. Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me. I love my daughter."

The court heard the couple, who had been seeing each other for nearly two years, would sometimes have arguments, particularly after drinking.

Mr Nicholas O'Brien, pros- ecuting, said that on Sunday, May 5, Miss Hurley and Mr Bowell went to the Sun Inn pub at Coate Water with friends.

After drinking from late afternoon until about 10.30pm the couple left in Mr Bowell's Ford Escort.

Mr Bowell, who had consumed five or six pints of lager, suddenly became aggressive, the court heard, and began shouting at his girlfriend.

Mr O'Brien said: "The defendant was in a serious temper. If he had had an ounce of commonsense he would have stopped driving.

"But he continued to drive. She was very scared by what he said and did."

In video evidence played to the court, Miss Hurley said: "Before we got in the car I remember thinking to myself 'this isn't a good idea.'

"He suddenly became angry and hit me in the car. I was feeling scared. I am not sure where we were heading. He hit me in the chest with his fist while the car was still moving. Then I started to freak out.

"He said he was going to teach me a lesson. I started to get scared and afraid and didn't know what was going to happen. He said lots of stuff and made me believe he was going to harm me. He said he would take me to somewhere where people couldn't hear. We drove past our turning. That's when I knew we weren't going home.

"We slowed down to a stop at a roundabout. I took my seat belt off but he put his arm out to stop me and said: 'You are not getting away'

"I tried to get out more than once."

Miss Hurley told police she reached into her handbag for her mobile and called the police, without Bowell knowing.

"Honest to God, I thought he was going to kill me," she said.

Eventually Miss Hurley decided to jump out of the car to get away from him, the court heard.

"I saw something like a light, and thought 'out now'," she said. "I thought that if I could get out I could get away. The seat belt was already off, and I was trying to pick my moment when he wasn't looking. I opened the door and don't remember hitting the floor."

Miss Hurley suffered serious spinal injuries as soon as she hit the ground on the Highworth Road approaching Lechlade.

"It felt like my legs had been chopped off," she said. "I couldn't lift myself up and really thought that my legs weren't there.

"I was in so much agony all I could think was my legs were gone."

When he saw his girlfriend jump from the car, she said Bowell stopped and returned to where she was lying. He picked her up and drove her the 15 miles to Princess Margaret Hospital in Swindon. The court heard she arrived more than two-and-a-half hours after the second 999 call, a journey which the court heard took police only 25 minutes. "I know I was stupid to jump out but I thought it was the only thing I could do to get away," she said.

"I hate him. I didn't know I would never walk again. He made me so scared I had to jump out of the car."

Mr Bowell denies both charges and the trial continues.