A Police driver has denied running a red light before his vehicle came into fatal collision with a motorcyclist.

Speaking at a Coroner's inquest into the death of Michael Scott (Sprockett) Kozma, 21, P.c Andy Beaupierre said the light was green and he didn't see the victim's motorcycle coming.

Initial reports at the time of Mr. Kozma's death on April 29 2005 suggested he may have been speeding when his bike collided with the Police Toyota Landcruiser at the junction of Dundonald Street and Cedar Avenue in Pembroke.

The inquest, held by Coroner Juan Wolffe, aims to establish the circumstances of the death rather than attribute blame. The victim's mother, Beverly Kozma, 56, from Spanish Point, hopes the much-delayed hearing will finally give her some answers about what happened that night.

In evidence yesterday, P.c. Beaupierre said he was at the wheel of the Landcruiser with three officers with him when they were called to a reported disturbance at the temporary bus terminal near City Hall.

The officer said the lights and sirens were on as he headed along Cedar Avenue toward the collision site, and he was applying the brakes because the traffic lights were on red. He described how the lights changed to green as he approached the junction, so he changed down from third to second gear, and proceeded through it and towards Victoria Street.

"As I went through the junction I heard a loud impact. I heard and felt the impact simultaneously. The vehicle I was driving shook so I immediately brought it to a stop, alighted from the vehicle, and saw there was a bike a short distance away," said the officer.

He told the court he had not seen any traffic in the vicinity as he approached the junction, but the bike came from his right side along Dundonald Street.

Lawyer Edward Bailey, representing Mr. Kozma's family, said: "I put it to you that when you were coming to the Cedar Avenue junction you went straight through a red light."

The officer replied: "I didn't go through a red light."

Mr. Bailey persisted: "You went at a considerable speed. You ignored the cycle being ridden by the deceased."

P.c. Beaupierre responded: "That's not true."

The officer went on to express concern over a statement from another witness that the siren could not be heard from the other side of the junction.

"Probably the siren isn't loud enough, because from that side of the street it should have been louder than that. The sirens on the trucks aren't half as loud as they are on the cars," he told the inquest.

His remark was an apparent reference to a statement from eyewitness Philip Rush, 29, from Devonshire. In evidence later yesterday, Mr. Rush told the Coroner the light was on red where his car was waiting on the other side of the junction. He could not say what colour the opposite light was as the Landcruiser proceeded through it.

He described seeing the Police vehicle coming very slowly toward the junction, with its blue lights rotating and giving one quick blast on the siren.

Next, he said: "They appeared to gun it from the junction, then I heard a bang and scraping sound."

He said of the collision: "I never saw the actual thing. It all happened so fast."

Asked by Mr. Bailey what he meant by seeing the Police vehicle "gun it" Mr. Rush replied: "Floor it. They just came straight out. I would not say they had reached top speed or nothing but they took off pretty good."

The hearing continues.