Terry Coles was approaching the ground when he was fatally injured

Retired Pc David Lindsay, formerly of South Yorkshire Police, was carrying out crowd control when his horse struck and killed Swansea City fan Terry Coles, 42, before a league match against Rotherham United in May 2000.

Giving evidence to an inquest jury at Doncaster Magistrates Court, Mr Lindsay said he was trying to prevent Swansea fans throwing stones into Rotherham's ground when the accident happened.

The inquest heard Mr Coles walked into the horse's path as it was slowly cantering down a lane next to the Millmoor stadium.

Mr Lindsay explained that he was trying to prevent more stone-throwing by taking the horse, called Fulwood, along the lane outside the ground.

I still believe to this day that it was the right thing to do David Lindsay, retired Pc

"I saw Mr Coles throw an object before I set off but he wasn't bothering me," he said.

But, the inquest was told, while other people got out of the horse's way, Mr Coles moved into its path and bent down in front of it.

"Once I'd set the horse off into a canter I had made my mind up to get from point A to point B as quickly and safely as possible, but Mr Coles took that option away from me by bending down.

"When he bent down he was only two or three feet away from me and there was no way I could have turned left or right without causing mayhem and me coming off the horse and bringing the horse down," he said.

'Right thing'

He said he could not have stopped in time. "Mr Coles was too close," he added.

"My intention was to save an awful lot of injury to people in and around the ground," he said.

Mounted police were trying to prevent stone-throwing

"I still believe to this day that it was the right thing to do."

On Monday, a fellow mounted officer told the inquest the horse was being controlled properly and ridden at a "steady pace" when the collision occurred.

Pc Sarah Woodward said it was common practice to manoeuvre a horse at a crowd in order to disperse them and that the crowd around Terry Coles - a drayman for Bass breweries - had moved away at the time he was struck.

Early last week, the court heard a statement by another Swansea fan, Alan Roberts who told how he thought the horse was "spooked... and the rider was struggling to control it".

A few days before, evidence from other police officers said Mr Coles appeared to have "walked into the path of the police horse" and was seen on CCTV footage throwing objects into the stadium.

But a friend of Mr Coles said he would have "run the other way" to avoid any trouble.

Post mortem examination tests showed Mr Coles was four times over the drink-drive limit at the time of his death.

The inquest continues.