A police officer saved a colleague's life by pulling her from the path of a speeding car, a court was told.

PC Robert Fitzsimmons, 32, said he thought injured PC Deborah Lawson was going to die and her screams of pain would stay with him "for the rest of his life".

David McLean, 31, and Ryan Gilmour, 25, deny attempting to murder the two officers by striking them repeatedly with a car in Banner Drive, Knightswood, Glasgow, on Sunday, October 23, 2016.

PC Fitzsimmons told the High Court in Edinburgh he and PC Lawson had been called to a report of a man being chased by another wielding a knife at about 11.10pm.

When they arrived they found a dark 4x4, or people carrier, in the middle of the road with its headlights on which moved towards them at a "crawl" before stopping.

The driver refused to get out of the car and struggled with PC Fitzsimmons while attempting to put the vehicle in gear. Then a passenger in the rear seat reached forward and grabbed the gear stick.

"He shouted, 'Go, drive, go'," said PC Fitzsimmons. "My concern was, between the two of them, the car was going to get moving. Myself and PC Lawson would then be in a bit of trouble, a life-threatening situation."

PC Fitzsimmons said he discharged his incapacitant spray into the faces of the two men but it had "absolutely no effect whatsoever".

At this point, the car began to reverse and both officers were swept backwards to the ground.

"I remember PC Lawson shouting at the top of her voice, 'Stop, stop, stop'," he said.

"To this day, I'll never know how her head never went under that car.

"It was the most scared I've ever been in my life. PC Lawson's screams will live with me for the rest of my life. I thought she was going to die and I couldn't prevent it."

He said they were only released when he heard a "very loud bang" at which point PC Lawson's head was just three feet from the driver's side of the vehicle.

He continued: "I heard the engine of the car rev really loudly and I knew it was going to go.

"I shouted at the top of my voice, I knew she was in danger. I couldn't work out why she wasn't moving. I didn't appreciate how badly injured she was.

"I knew it was going to go forward. I reached over and grabbed her round the torso and, as I did, she screamed in pain.

"I began to pull her towards me and, half a second after I got her out of the path of the wheel of the car, it shot forward and PC Lawson screamed again - but it wasn't in pain.

"I think she thought she was going to be hit."

He told the court that, as the car sped off, the driver made no effort to avoid PC Lawson and "would have run over the top of her head" if he had not intervened.

PC Fitzsimmons suffered cuts, bruises and neck pain from the incident and was treated in hospital. He has not yet returned to full duties due to the stress the incident caused.

The court heard he later identified the accused in photographic and video identity parades as being the driver and passenger in the car.

"I'm 100% certain the two responsible are the two sitting there today," he said.