A police officer who arrested two of three men accused of a home invasion with an imitation gun described seeing a firearm pointed from the alleged getaway vehicle.

But Pc Keith Senior also sparred with defence lawyers who questioned his description of the “heavy, unseasonable clothing” he said was worn by Justis Smith, who is accused of being the getaway driver.

Pc Senior spoke at the ongoing trial of Jerome Mader, 25, Mr Smith, 34, and Tyun Smith-Ming, 25, all of whom deny charges of aggravated burglary and the use of an imitation firearm.

The jury has heard that on the night of July 24, 2012, North Shore Road, Pembroke resident Dale Whitfield and his two children were at home when two masked men dressed in black came into the home via a bathroom window.

Mr Whitfield has already told the court he was stabbed in the shoulder during a tussle with one of the men, and his daughter has described being threatened with what appeared to be a gun, before the two fled.

A black BB gun was later recovered from the car where Mr Smith was arrested that night as officers responded to reports of a break-in shortly before 1am.

Pc Senior told the court he and his partner were headed to the scene in their police car when they turned onto Marsh Folly Road and saw two men jump into a stationary car.

“Based on the information that we received from the incident, we thought it was suspicious and went to check out the car,” he said.

As the other vehicle started to back away, “I saw a hand with a gun in it — a black handgun”, Pc Senior said.

The vehicle’s rear doors were ajar.

“I shouted ‘gun’, and we got out of the car and approached the car in an overtly aggressive manner with our handguns drawn,” the officer added.

The two rear passengers jumped out of the back and ran away down a nearby driveway. Pc Senior described them as dressed in dark clothing.

“One was wearing a baseball type cap, and the other was wearing heavy clothing and woollen hat,” he said.

One of the defendants, Mr Smith-Ming, approached the officers ten minutes later, and was arrested.

“He came directly from the driveway where the two men had run off,” Pc Senior said.

Mr Smith-Ming said he had been visiting his daughter. The officer described his appearance as “sweating and nervous”.

The court heard earlier that Mr Smith, who was found in the driver’s seat of the car, later told police two men had jumped in the back and threatened him with the imitation gun.

Mr Smith’s lawyer, Shade Subair, challenged the officer’s witness statement which described her client as wearing a heavy jacket over a sweater and a shirt.

Pc Senior described the clothes as “unseasonable” and told the court he hadn’t been aware of a thunderstorm advisory for that day.

He was shown the clothing recovered from Mr Smith, which he agreed included a raincoat and a blue shirt.

Pc Senior maintained he had also seen what had appeared to be a sweater, and said he didn’t recall seeing the blue shirt.

However, he agreed with Ms Subair that it seemed unlikely Mr Smith could have changed clothing before getting into the police car.

The trial continues today.