Those chasing the man accused of causing the death of mum of one Natasha Carruthers by his dangerous driving, had gone looking him after they'd "fuelled up" their car and "tooled-up with an iron bar", his Dungannon trial heard on Thursday.
The claim was made by defence QC Brian Macartney for 23-year-old Nathan Phair who was driving her blue Vauxhall Corsa car, the night of the fatal crash on October 7, 2017 as it was being chased along the rural B roads of Fermanagh by Padraig Toher in his black BMW.
The prosecution has already said the apparent "motivation" for the 12-mile high-speed chase between Letterbreen and Derrylin, stemmed from a failed drug-deal between Toher and Phair, and a third man who initially "arranged for the two of them to do business".
Clips of CCTV footage captured before and then along the route taken by the racing cars was shown to the jury of ten men and two women.
In the first clip, taken from Lisnaskea police station, the BMW of Toher, who has already admitted the manslaughter of 23-year-old Ms Carruthers, was seen driving in the direction of Newtownbutler and then back again.  Another clip pictured Toher, from Ballyconnell in Co Cavan,  later stopping off at an Enniskillen service station to buy fuel for his car.
The sergeant who compiled the CCTV clips was questioned by Mr. Macartney as to why Toher was "driving around and getting fuelled up".
Initially the officer replied he "didn't" know why, before adding that the "only reason I know is that they were looking for Nathan Phair".
However, when asked by Mr. Macartney if he knew "they were tooled up with an iron bar", the sergeant said he was "not aware of it" as his part of the investigation "was seeking CCTV" in relation to the fatal crash.
The court has already heard that prior to the chase Toher had hit the windscreen of the Corsa car with an iron bar and also smashed the drivers' window after coming came across Phair, Ms Carruthers, and another girl in their car in the village of Letterbreen.
The CCTV clips played to the court showed the two cars, their lights blazing on full beam racing along, one chasing the other, at speeds ranging from 67, 75, 83, to 87 mphs, before the Corsa car was clocked doing an estimated 100 mph as it drove through the village of Derrylin just prior to the crash.
The court also heard from a motorist returning to his Enniskillen home with his partner, who described how he had to "brake hard" to avoid the two cars as they drove towards Derrylin.
The motorist told the court that it appeared one car was trying to overtake the other, before pulling into its proper side of the road, but that in ordered to avoid a possible collision he had to "slow down very quickly… I nearly came to a stand-still".
Phair, from Castlebalfour Park, Lisnaskea, also seriously injured in the crash denies a total of nine charges, including causing Natasha’s death by dangerous driving, and causing grievous bodily injury to another girl, a back seat passenger, and driving without insurance and without a driving licence.
The trail continues.