TWO men have been acquitted of using a “stolen” 4x4 car to run over two police officers in what prosecutors claimed was an attempted murder bid.

David McLean, 31, and Ryan Gilmour, 25, were told they could go free after a jury returned not proven verdicts against them at the High Court in Edinburgh.

They stood trial on the allegation they tried to kill Constables Deborah Lawson and Robert Fitzsimmons with a Nissan Qashqai in Banner Drive, Glasgow, in October last year.

The court heard Pc Lawson say she thought she was going to die when a vehicle was driven towards her.

She had been dragged a total of 16 yards after the duo allegedly refused to get out of the car to speak to the officers.

The court heard how as she lay on the ground, Mr Gilmour, who was said to have been the driver, started moving the car towards her.

Her colleague Pc Fitzsimmons shouted “Debbie” and pushed her out of the way of the Qashqai.

The officers sustained serious injuries and needed hospital treatment.

Colleagues of the two stricken officers launched an urgent investigation and arrested Mr McLean and Mr Gilmour after finding their DNA on a Qashqai, which had been set on fire in the moments following the incident.

Detectives also discovered a purse that contained a driver’s licence and bank cards in the vehicle which belonged to a woman who had the same surname as Mr McLean.

But yesterday, jurors took just over an hour to return verdicts of acquittal against the two men. They had pleaded not guilty at the start of proceedings.

Friends and family of the two men were told by court officials to keep quiet after the verdicts were returned. They started cheering and clapping loudly. One supporter shouted “good decision”.

Lord Summers told the two men, who come from the Glasgow area: “You are acquitted of the charges.”

During proceedings, the court heard how Pcs Lawson and Fitzsimmons were called to Banner Drive in Knightswood, late on October 23. The officers attended the street after receiving reports of a disturbance involving youths.

Once arriving in the street, the police officers said they saw a Nissan Qashqai moving in a suspicious manner.

Pc Lawson told the court that she got out to speak to the driver of the vehicle.

The court heard that the driver – whom the Crown alleged to be Mr Gilmour – appeared to be “startled” and under the influence of a substance.

Prosecutors alleged Mr McLean was sitting in the back of the car. Pc Lawson said a man in the back seat was shouting on the driver to drive away.

Pc Lawson said she asked the driver to step out of the vehicle but he refused and started struggling with her.

The court heard the two men refused to comply with the officers’ requests and Pc Fitzsimmons felt as if he had no other option but to use his Pava incapacity spray on the two men.

However, the car started to reverse back and Pc Lawson said she was “dragged” along with the Qashqai.

She told the court: “The car started reversing back. I honestly can’t remember what I was holding on to. I grabbed onto something to stay upright. My next memory is me looking down at my feet.

“I was getting dragged along the ground.

I just remember screaming.

“It was the only thing I could do to get the driver to stop the car.”

Relatives of the cleared men smoked cigars outside court following the acquittal.