Driver, 37, was killed in Wolverhampton 'high speed race'
A race between two men in high-powered cars through the streets of Wolverhampton ended in tragedy when one vehicle careered off the road, killing its driver, a jury heard this afternoon.
Rajesh Chalotra died after his silver Audi TT crashed into a wall and demolished a lamp-post in Finchfield Road West.
Moments earlier the car had been spotted travelling "extremely fast" alongside a four-litre black Audi R8 driven by 26-year-old Jatinder Paul, Birmingham Crown Court was told.
Prosecutor Mr Peter Arnold said: "A pedestrian saw two sets of lights side by side and two vehicles travelling extremely fast and, by the sound of the noise, under heavy acceleration.
"He believed that they were so close that they actually touched but that is probably not right because there was no evidence of the collision.
"But he saw the Audi TT go out of control, leave the road and crash.
"He saw the Audi R8 drive on and then come back and stop at the collision site."
The driver of the R8 ignored an attempt by the pedestrian to open the car door and drove off, the court heard.
Mr Arnold continued: "An unhappy fact of this case is that Mr Paul, well knowing that he had been in a very serious collision, did not stop to give help to those inside the other vehicle and off he went."
The two men knew each other and had been watching an England Euro football match on TV at the Rose & Crown pub in Penn earlier that evening, the jury was told.
They left the car park in convoy around 11.40pm and headed along the Penn Road towards Wolverhampton city centre.
Another motorist saw them stop alongside each other at a red set of traffic lights and suddenly accelerate away when the lights turned to green, the court heard.
Mr Arnold explained: "The black Audi pulled away slowly and then suddenly moved off at a very considerable speed followed by the silver Audi in a similar style.
"From that point a race then took place between the two high-powered cars along the residential roads with 30 or 40mph speed limits. It tragically ended in an awful collision."
One motorist estimated the black Audi was "doing a ton", the court heard. Mr Arnold said: "The witness said they were tailgating and possibly doing between 70 and 80mph."
The cars travelled along Compton Road and on to Finchfield Hill where both were so close together that a CCTV camera timed them at precisely the same second when they passed, the jury was told.
Paul formerly of Warstones Road, Warstones, but now living at Stanton Road, Great Barr, denies causing the death of Mr Chalotra, aged 37, by dangerous driving.
The trial continues.
