Bristol NHS worker heard ‘racial slur’ after being hit by car

An NHS worker left seriously injured after being hit by a car has described how one of the men in the vehicle shouted a racial slur before running away, a court has heard.

Katungua Tjitendero, 25, was struck on the afternoon of 22 July 2020, near Southmead Hospital in Bristol shortly after finishing his shift there.

Mr Tjitendero told Bristol Crown Court on Thursday: “When they got out and said what they said… It is just two white kids and then they do that… and run off. I was just like ‘wow’.”

Phillip Adams, 26, Patrick James, 22, Jordan McCarthy, 22, and Daniel Whereatt, 51, all from Bristol, deny conspiring to “unlawfully and maliciously” inflict grievous bodily harm to Mr Tjitendero.

Mr James also denies a second charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent in relation to an incident 10 days earlier, although he admits the alternative of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Jurors were shown a video interview recorded by police the day after the incident involving Mr Tjitendero. It showed him visibly injured as he described how his head hit the windscreen of the blue Honda Accord car.

He said he had been looking at music videos on his phone and wearing headphones when he was suddenly “hit by a car”.

“At first, I just thought it was some sort of crash,” Mr Tjitendero told officers.

“They just got out of the car. As soon as they hit me, they left the car and ran off.

“I can’t really remember what they looked like, I just remember two white males.”

Jurors heard that Mr Tjitendero suffered a fractured fibula, fractured nose and lacerations to his head and both shins in the incident.

Mr Tjitendero said he had never seen the men before and told police he had not been in dispute with anyone.

Asked to describe what took place after he was struck, Mr Tjitendero said: “The blood was running down my face, but at first, my face wasn’t hurting as much as my leg.”

He said that passers-by went to his aid, lifting him off a wall and applying bandages to his head to stop the bleeding.

Giving evidence, Alison Adams said she saw the car take a “sharp turn to the right and aim straight into where the houses were”.

She added that the two men that ran from the vehicle had their hoods pulled up, with one wearing a “Scream” type mask, and the other with a scarf over his face.

Anjali Gohil, prosecuting, told the jury it was the Crown’s case that the blue Honda Accord estate – with Mr James and Mr Adams allegedly inside – was travelling around the Southmead area “looking” for Mr Tjitendero.

While another car, a Kia, with Mr Whereatt driving and accompanied by Mr McCarthy, was waiting nearby to drive their co-accused away afterwards, it is alleged.

Mr James also denies a second charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent in relation to an incident 10 days earlier, although he admits the alternative of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Mobile phone footage played to the court shows Julian Ford cycling on a pavement before the vehicle drives towards him and strikes him – with the sound of laughter from inside the car.

Mr Ford suffered a rib fracture, a haemothorax, a lung injury and blood in his chest.

The court heard Mr Ford did not remember being hit, but when he woke up in the ambulance he was struggling to breathe.

In a statement to police following the incident he said could not speak and was drifting in and out of consciousness. He added that medics had to drill a hole in his chest to re-inflate his lung.

He added he was still in severe pain and could not leave his house three months months after the incident.

“I can think of no reason why this would happen to me,” he added.

Miss Gohil told the court on Wednesday that at the time Mr Ford was hit, Mr James had his Snapchat account on his phone open – suggesting he was broadcasting the incident.

The trial continues.