Reagan Ainslie Chown, aged 25, denied the manslaughter charge in the West Australian Supreme Court today concerning an event on June 8, 2023, resulting in the death of Constable Anthony Woods.

Prosecutor Justin Whalley presented to the jury that Chown, accompanied by two others, attempted to escape police pursuit in a stolen Holden Cruz, eventually driving into a dead-end street where the vehicle halted.

Woods, 28, exited a police vehicle and opened the Holden driver’s door where Chown was allegedly seated and attempted to detain him.

In the seconds that followed, Chown allegedly attempted to drive off and Woods fired his Taser before “falling and being dragged under the accused’s vehicle to his ultimate death”.

Whalley said the Taser’s two barbs struck Chown in his right elbow and left upper thigh.

CCTV footage showed the Holden reversing at speed while turning left, mounting a kerb and hitting a bollard before coming to a stop.

During the video, Woods can be heard saying “stay where you are” twice.

A loud crack can also be heard, with Whalley explaining to the jury it was the sound of Woods’ Taser firing, as the vehicle continued to move backwards.

“Const Woods became trapped under the accused’s car,” Whalley said.

“He was taken to hospital but his injuries were not survivable.”

The jury heard his cause of death was complications of cardiac arrest caused by mechanical compression of the chest and abdomen.

Chown’s barrister, Paul Bevilacqua, said his client’s actions on the night were disgraceful and criminal but the Taser had deprived Chown of the capacity to control his body and he was not responsible for Woods’ death.

He said the CCTV showed that after the Taser was fired, the car was out of control as it moved backwards.

Woods’ partner on the night, then-Sergeant Michael Fisher said the officer “got caught up somehow and dragged under the front wheels”.

Fisher’s body-worn camera footage, played for the jury, showed him move to the front of the Holden and bend down with a torch to check on Woods.

“How are you doing, mate?” he can he heard saying in the video.

Fisher said Woods was unresponsive, and that he and other officers used a trolley jack to lift the Holden and pull their colleague from under it.

The footage also showed Fisher handcuffing Chown and the two other people in the Holden with him when Woods was struck.

In the video, Chown can repeatedly be heard saying “is he OK?” in reference to Woods, as Fisher finds a knife in his possession.

Whalley told the jury Chown was under the influence of methamphetamine and in possession of the drug when the incident happened.

He also detailed Chown’s interview with investigators before Woods died, when he allegedly said: “If I didn’t get shot with the Taser none of this would have happened”.

Bevilacqua agreed he lacked empathy at the time.

“It’s not like I wanted to hit the accelerator,” Chown had said.