A driver said to have been rammed twice by a BMW near Cowley police station swore on his mother’s life that his passenger had not pulled out a knife on the other driver.

Witness Gianni Singh-Gosal told jurors at Oxford Crown Court that Luis Baptista, 33, had struck his vehicle twice as they argued at traffic lights at the junction of Oxford Road and Between Towns Road on November 7, 2021.

It followed what Mr Singh-Gosal said had been heavy braking by Baptista’s BMW on Cowley Road.

Giving evidence on Tuesday morning (August 1), he acknowledged that his friend, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, at the beamer driver had sworn at each other.

But he shot down a suggestion by Baptista’s brief, Dana Bilan, that his passenger had pulled out a knife.

“I can swear down on my mother’s life that’s false,” he said.

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He said that Baptista’s BMW struck the side door of his silver Peugeot 308, then rammed the front nearside of the hatchback with pictures showing his front bumper hanging off.

It followed an argument in which Baptista was alleged ‘not to have liked it’ when the pair agreed to his suggestion that they go to the nearby police station.

Ms Bilan, whose client’s case is that he bumped into the Peugeot as he tried to squeeze past a car in front in order to get away, put it to the witness: “He did not deliberately collide into your car did he?”

“He did,” Mr Singh-Gosal replied.

The barrister said: “It was because he was being threatened and there was a car in front of him.” He said he did not agree.

“He did not collide with your care more than once. It was one time and it [caused] damage we can see in photographs taken by your dad,” Ms Bilan said. Again, he did not agree.

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The defence brief said: “At that point he drives off in the direction of Garsington Road you know there is a police station right behind you, you do not call the police, do you?”

He said he had gone after the BMW in order to try and get the vehicle’s registration, knowing it would be the first question asked by his insurers.

The larger car ‘sped off at a high speed’ and he could not catch up, he said.

He denied that he and his friend were the ‘aggressors’ in the interaction with the defendant.

Baptista, of Balfour Road, Oxford, denies dangerous driving. The trial continues.