A police worker tried to kill his wife and her lover by mowing them down with a car, a jury heard.

Stephen White's red Rover mounted a pavement and drove into estranged wife Tracy and her new lover Martin Buck in Creasy's Drive, Crawley.

Mrs White was struck in the stomach and the force of the impact threw her through the air. She fell backwards into bushes.

Mr Buck, a former friend of the defendant's, rolled over the bonnet as the vehicle hit him.

White, who works as a Metropolitan Police community support officer, stopped the car and ran after Mr Buck.

He then gave up the chase and got back into the driving seat and drove again at him but Mr Buck jumped out of the way.

The car then went over the pavement and ended up embedded into a wall. Neither of the couple suffered serious injuries.

White, 34, of Beechy Road, Broadfield, Crawley, sobbed in the dock at Lewes Crown Court yesterday as his trial for attempted murder started.

Nicholas Hall, prosecuting, told the court the couple had problems with their nine-year marriage before White accused his wife of having an affair with Mr Buck in the autumn of 2002.

Mrs White denied the couple were lovers at that time but her husband remained suspicious.

On June 24, 2003, he lost his temper and punched her during a row.

He was arrested and cautioned by police for the assault.

He moved out of their home but three days later, as she was walking her dog, Oliver, with Mr Buck, he attempted to run them down.

Mrs White told how she was walking along the road with Mr Buck when she saw her estranged husband driving towards her.

She said: "We thought he was going to drive past but as he was getting closer I could see it in his face, he was red. I was directly in front of the car when it hit me.

"All I remember is him hitting me and landing in the undergrowth. I landed on my back with my leg under. It was agony."

Mrs White, who is getting divorced, told the jury she had been unhappy in her marriage for a number of years.

"I was not allowed to go out or do anything," she said.

On a number of occasions he told her: "If I cannot have you then no one can have you."

During cross-examination she admitted her husband had suffered from mental illness for the past five years caused by post-traumatic stress disorder which developed following incidents during his time as a special police constable.

He had witnessed a decapitation and was also affected by a car crash during a pursuit.

Philip Meredith, defending, said to her: "He would never have intended to kill you?" She replied: "Yes, he would have."

Mr Meredith said: "He was bitterly upset and deeply hurt by what you were doing." She said: "I was not doing anything."

She denied she and Mr Buck had become lovers until a few days before the alleged attempted murder.

Recalling the day, Mr Buck said: "I heard a car speed up. The next thing it mounted the kerb. Tracy took the full impact. I caught my ankle on the wing and I just had a bruise."

He said White got out of the car and chased him but gave up and returned to the vehicle.

Mr Buck said: "He chased me down the road screaming, 'You are shagging my wife'."

White has denied attempting to murder Mrs White and two charges of attempting to murder Mr Buck.

He also denies attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to the couple and a charge of dangerous driving. The trial continues.