Death driver boasted of overtaking
The driver who smashed into another car on a Wolverhampton road and killed a 21-year-old passenger has denied he was racing but boasted about overtaking.
Tobias Pearce, 19, who had no licence and had never taken a driving lesson, was speeding along the bus lane in Wednesfield Road soon after 4am when the horrific crash took place, a jury was told.
Police calculated that 19-year-old Pearce's Mazda was travelling at speeds of at least 52mph when it struck the Honda as it turned into Lincoln Street last July 12.
But his defence team reckon it is impossible to tell from the tyre marks what speed the car was doing.
The trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court was told that the front of the Mazda struck the Honda side-on, sending it spinning 50 metres across the road where it hit a telephone box and smashed into fencing.
Witnesses living nearby spoke of hearing skidding before the impact.
Both Pearce and the driver of the Honda, Gavin Williamson, survived. But Jamel Thomas, of Chervil Rise, Heath Town, was thrown from the Honda and died at the scene.
In the witness box, Pearce denied missing a turn because he was going too fast and claimed the reason he caught up with the Honda so quickly was because Mr Wiliamson had deliberately slowed down.
Pearce accused him of "poncing about, waiting for me".
When asked why Mr Williamson was waiting for him, he replied: "I overtook him – he's not going to like that, is he?"
Later, when the Honda turned left in front of him, he failed to stop.
He said: "I didn't have time to brake. It was all too fast. He cut across me, I wasn't expecting him to turn."
Pearce, of Valley Road, Park Village, denies causing death by dangerous driving.
The trial continues.
