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'He rammed into me and then drove over me not knowing if I was alive or dead'Harvey Bell deliberately drove at a police officer and left her injured in a Sainsbury's car

parkCommentsNewsJames Holt Senior Live and Breaking News Reporter06:19, 05 Jun 2025Harvey Bell deliberately drove at a police officer and left her injured in a Sainsbury's car park(Image:

GMP) A police officer who was deliberately knocked down with a car before being 'driven over' has spoken out about her horror ordeal.

She had attended the Sainsbury's car park on Wilmslow Road in Cheadle at around 11.45pm on January 25 this year in response to reports of men taking class C drugs when she attempted to stop

19-year-old Harvey Bell in his Audi.

‌ But instead of getting out of his vehicle, he 'used his car as a weapon' and reversed, before ploughing down the female officer, driving over her legs with both wheels and speeding away

from the scene.

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The victim, who has not been identified, briefly lost consciousness and suffered a deep cut requiring hospital treatment alongside bruising, cuts and scratches to her leg and arm.

In a victim impact statement to court, she said she will 'never forgive' Bell for his actions as she laid bare the details of the ordeal, which is 'permanently' in the back of her mind.

Article continues below “On Saturday 25 January, I donned my uniform and became a police officer, a role that I am immensely proud to do," she said.

"By the end of my shift, I was in hospital, a victim of a violent assault that was equally despicable and totally unprovoked and needless.

The officer was driven at in the Sainsbury's car park(Image: Jake Lindley / Manchester Evening News)‌ “In my 16 years as a frontline officer, I have been met with violence - I have been

punched, kicked and spat at, sometimes from the very people I am trying to help.

"Week after week, I put on my uniform, because despite the violence and the hate, it is still the most rewarding job, knowing that you have helped someone in even the smallest way, far

outweighs the verbal and physical abuse from the few.

“I have always given the haters, the minority that kick and punch us, the benefit of the doubt. I felt that they don’t see me as a person, a mum, a nanna, they just see the uniform, the

black vest.

‌ “But this is just an excuse and should not give people the right to hurt and assault us. The uniform that I wear is often disregarded and treated with contempt.

“On that Saturday night shift, I was on routine patrol, and I was thoughtlessly mown down by Harvey Bell, simply for doing my job. There was no confrontation, just a simple request from a

police officer to stop their car.

“Bell drove the vehicle straight at me, causing me to fall to the ground, he then, without a thought, drove over my legs, before leaving the scene at speed, not knowing if I was alive or

dead.

‌ “My injuries have healed, the pain will go away, but the trauma of watching those wheels drive over my legs, the feeling of helplessness gives me continuous nightmares to this day.

“I will never forgive Bell for the upset he caused my family; he was the reason why my daughters received the dreaded phone call to say I had been hurt. A call no family wants to receive.

“What he did to me is permanently in the back of my mind, every call I go to, I feel the apprehension, the fear that any incident no matter how innocuous it appears, can end with being

assaulted or hurt. This is an unseen result of Bell’s assault on me.

‌ “Thankfully, due to the support of my family, and my GMP family, Bell hasn’t been able to take away the thing I love doing the most - my job as a police officer. Each day I will go back

out and put on my uniform and Bell will not take that away from me.

“I know that Bell’s abhorrent behaviour is an exception, and the majority of the public we serve do not wish us harm, but assaults on police need to stop.

“An attack on a police officer is an attack on us all. Bell is a danger to society and had total disregard for my life.”

‌ Bell, of Bennet Drive in Knutsford, was traced and arrested by police the following day, January 26. He initially answered no comment in his interview but later pleaded guilty to causing

serious injury by dangerous driving and possession of cannabis.

The 19-year-old appeared at Minshull Street Crown Court on Wednesday (June 4) where he was sentenced to 31 months in a Young Offenders Institute. He was also disqualified from driving for

two years.

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