Clayton Williams Back In Court Via Video-Link Over Pc Dave Phillips Murder

Clayton Williams Back In Court Via Video-Link Over Pc Dave Phillips Murder
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A teenager accused of the murder of Pc Dave Phillips will today make his second appearance in court.

Clayton Williams, 18, of Wheatland Lane, Wallasey, was remanded in custody after a brief hearing at Wirral Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

He is alleged to have taken a Mitsubishi pick-up truck during a burglary and, as he was being pursued by police, driven the vehicle directly at Pc Phillips, killing the father-of-two.

The defendant is also charged with attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent to Pc Thomas Birkett, who jumped out of the way as the car ploughed into Pc Phillips.

Williams faces additional charges for the initial burglary and aggravated vehicle-taking of the pick-up truck during the break-in at an estate agent's in Oxton, Merseyside, on Monday, when a cash till, fishing equipment and electrical items were stolen.

He will appear for a preliminary hearing at Liverpool Crown Court via prison videolink at 2pm today.

Pc Phillips, 34, was trying to use a "stinger" type device to puncture the pick-up truck's wheels when he was struck in Dock Road, Wallasey, in the early hours of Monday. He died in hospital a short time later.

The officer's wife Jen, 28, and daughters Abigail, seven, and Sophie, three, laid flowers at the scene on Wednesday. His daughters later described their kind and caring "super daddy" in a moving video tribute.

Williams's co-accused Philip Mark Stuart, 30, of Mayfair Court, Prenton, Wirral, is accused of burglary and aggravated vehicle-taking and death caused by an accident, after allegedly being carried in the Mitsubishi.

He is next due to appear from custody at Liverpool Crown Court on October 22.

Three women, aged 19, 34 and 59, and a man, aged 39, arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, have been released on bail pending further inquiries.