Speeding driver denies 'Fast and Furious' claims over bus shelter tragedy

Inderjit Singh also denied he was re-enacting scenes out of the film The Fast and Furious as he raced another motorist at speeds of up to 100mph.

Singh, aged 31, admitted he was a fan of the Hollywood street-racing car blockbuster and kept a poster of the film on his bedroom wall.

But the computer engineer told Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday that it had not crossed his mind as he roared along the A4123 making cars shake in his slipstream.

The race ended in tragedy when his rival Sukvinder Mannan swerved his red Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution into a bus lane at 101mph in a desperate attempt to take the lead on Hagley Road West on May 31 last year.

The high-powered sports car mounted the pavement and ploughed into a bus shelter killing 21-year-old student Rebecca McManus and critically injuring Harriet Barnsley.

Taking the witness stand Singh, who described himself as 'shy and timid,' told the jury he wasn't to blame for the collision because he hadn't initiated the race and had 'withdrawn' from it seconds before the fatal impact.

Earlier under cross examination from prosecutor Mr Hugh O'Brien-Quinn, Singh admitted being a fan of The Fast and Furious after witnesses said he drove at up to 100mph like in scenes from the popular film.

But when Mr O'Brien Quinn asked him: "Did you think were taking part in something like out of that film?" Singh replied: "It did not even cross my mind."

Wearing a grey suit, shirt and tie, Singh told the court he was ashamed of his actions that night and that he'd been a coward for not stopping at the crash scene and instead waited for police to arrest him two weeks later.

Miss McManus's family listened intently from the packed public gallery as Singh told how he'd been late on his way to a dinner date in Birmingham when he noticed the red Mitsubishi tailgating him after a set of traffic lights on the A4123 near its junction with Bleakhouse Road in Oldbury.

He said: "He was just inches behind me and I interpreted his actions to mean he either wanted me out the way or he wanted a race.

"So I moved into the inside lane and accelerated away with him still tailing me. It was from that point that I started racing him and reached speeds of about 75-80mph."

Addressing the seven-women five-man jury Singh, a first-class honours Computer Science degree holder, added: "That decision was irresponsible and stupid and I was not thinking clearly.

"His attempts to provoke me had worked and I should not have given in to temptation. It's something I regret."

Singh said the entire race lasted less than a minute and that he began slowing down as he approached a left turn on to Hagley Road West heading towards Birmingham city centre.

He told his defence barrister Miss Sarah Buckingham that he undertook a slow-moving taxi before he decided to stop racing.

He said: "I took my foot off the accelerator and started to brake while the Mitsubishi was behind me. For me it was obvious I was telling the driver I did not want this race to carry on. There was no other reason for me to slow down."

BMW driver Inderjit Singh, 31, of Ettingshall, has admitted dangerous driving and accepts he was racing but denies death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Mitsubishi Evolution driver Sukvinder Mannan, 33, from Halesowen, has pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

The trial continues.