A66 pedestrian death driver denies perverting justice

A driver has denied throwing away his mobile phone and trying to stage the theft of his car after a pedestrian was struck by it on a road in Cumbria.

James Greenwood, 61, of Market Drayton, Shropshire, died crossing the A66 near Keswick in April 2018.

Matthew Leggett is on trial at Carlisle Crown Court accused of perverting the course of justice, which he denies.

The 24-year-old, of Sonnets Way, Cockermouth, faces no charges in relation to his driving.

The prosecution alleges that after striking Mr Greenwood, Mr Leggett drove 12 miles from the scene and "abandoned" his BMW close to woodland, with its lights and radio still on, "to make it look as though it had been stolen", and tried to "avoid detection by police".

Mr Leggett told the court he recalled driving towards Keswick and seeing people ahead of him next to the A66, and as he glanced to the left heard a "big bang" on his windscreen.

He did not know what he had hit, and phoned a friend to arrange collection beside remote woodland they knew well.

"I was in shock. I was in panic," he said. "I would have stopped if I had seen Mr Greenwood in the road."

His barrister, Anthony Parkinson, asked: "Did you park your vehicle in that place, in the way it was parked, because you had a plan to pretend that the vehicle had been stolen?"

He replied: "No. It was just parked there simply because we [he and his friend] both knew it well from when we were younger. It was easy to get there."

His mobile phone was never recovered, and when asked if he threw it away he said: "No. I didn't have any reason to."

The trial continues.