Man accused of trying to kill police officers felt 'paranoid' after smoking cannabis

Maninder Hunjan, 26, and Parminder Hunjan, 37, allegedly slashed two constables with knives when they were stopped in New Square Shopping Centre, at about 11am on July 21, last year.

Giving evidence at Wolverhampton Crown Court, Maninder Hunjan also told the jury that the approaching officers did not identify themselves as police and he thought they were just "some men" coming to attack them.

He said that on the morning of the incident he had undertaken stretching exercises while listening to music and smoking cannabis which usually helped him, as it was "important to stay relaxed".

"On the day the incident occurred I had the opposite effect. It made me feel like people were running after me. I felt intimated and my sister and brother were there with me."

Mr Stephen Grattage, defending counsel, put to him: "What effect did the cannabis have on you?"

Hunjan replied: "At the time it made me feel severely paranoid and anxious."

The defendant, a university law graduate, said he often wore gloves at home and outdoors due to not liking "skin" contact. He was captured on film wearing gloves during the melee with the officers. He also said he had not been wearing a heavy coat as alleged by the prosecution.

"It wasn't a heavy jacket. It was the lightest coat I owned," he told the jury.

"Everything happened quickly. If I'd known they were police officers I would not have reacted like that. People were coming at us unexpectedly, I thought I was being attacked. The police didn't identify themselves.

"I think I was under the influence of cannabis. I think I was hallucinating. I didn't see what was in front of me. I didn't see that they were police."

The defendant told the court that he had become wary after someone knocked on his the door of his family home to intimidate him and that on another occasion he was threatened in a park.

He said as a result he started to carry a knife in his pocket and then his brother and co-defendant Parminder gave him the other weapons including a hammer and BB gun, which he carried in a rucksack whenever they went out.

The officers had been on patrol in the town centre as part of a temporary stop and search operation to tackle knife crime when the brothers were stopped. One officer suffered a slash wound to his head which required stitches and cuts to his fingers while a second officer suffered a wound to the back of his head.

Parminder Hunjan and Maninder Hunjan both deny attempted murder, wounding with intent and possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

The trial continues.