A police witness recounted chasing after a man accused of a June 2020 murder on the night of the incident.

Inspector Roger Saints said that at about 9pm on the night of June 14, 2020 he was on patrol with another officer on St Mary’s Road close to Cedar Hill Road in Warwick when they observed a stationary car facing north.

“I found it strange,” he said and after a conversation with his colleague, the officers approached the vehicle.

He said as they approached, two men — one of whom he identified as Davin Dill — exited a nearby residence and entered the car.

Mr Saints told the court that Mr Dill — who was dressed in black — entered the front passenger side of the car while the other man entered the back.

The witness said he did not see who was in the driver’s seat.

The policeman said that the driver was ordered to stop but instead he sped off, heading east before coming to a halt at a bend on the road.

Mr Saints said the men then emerged from the car and ran off in different directions.

He said he pursued Mr Dill who went to the back of a residence and as he went after the man, the accused turned around and approached the officer.

“We were facing each other,” the witness said and he recalled ordering Mr Dill to stop but the man ran past him and went in the direction of Purvis Primary School.

The defendant then ran onto the school’s playing field and headed off into a residential area, where the officer lost sight of him.

Under cross-examination, Mr Saints said that although he wore his body camera at the time, he did not activate the device.

“Everything happened so fast … it was a fact-paced scenario,” he said.

Earlier yesterday, another witness — who cannot be identified for legal reasons — continued giving evidence.

The jury was shown CCTV footage and the witness told the court that she identified Mr Dill from his “body structure” in one of the videos.

Earlier, she told the court she was close to the victim, Joshua Rowse, and that she “knew of” Mr Dill from her school days.

Mr Dill, 27, has denied charges that he murdered Mr Rowse, 22, in an incident on June 14, 2020, and that he had a bladed article, specifically a knife, in a public place.

The court was previously shown CCTV footage from the Rubis service station on South Road in Warwick in which Mr Rowse and others were seen to arrive at the station shortly after 7pm.

While Mr Rowse stood outside the store, a black car is seen to pull up and two men get out, one from the passenger’s seat and the other from the back seat on the driver’s side.

The men chased Mr Rowse around the side of the building, with the black car following behind.

Seconds later, Mr Rowse was seen to walk back into frame hunched over and holding his abdomen.

The trial continues.

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