A MOTORIST has denied a charge which alleges he “abandoned” his car to “delay his detection by police” after a fatal accident on the A66 near Keswick.
Sixty-one-year-old pedestrian James Greenwood died after he and a BMW 1 series were in collision at Braithwaite in the early hours of April 7 last year.
Relatives of Mr Greenwood, who was from Market Drayton in Shropshire, were present in the public gallery at Carlisle Crown Court today (FRI) as the BMW driver, Matthew Paul Leggett, denied one charge.
This alleges that 24-year-old Leggett did acts “tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice”.
The charge further alleges that Leggett “did a series of acts which had a tendency to pervert the course of public justice, in order to frustrate and delay his detection by the police”. The charge continues to allege that Leggett “drove his car some 12 miles away from the scene of an accident, and abandoned it at a discreet location at Setmurthy Woods, at Cockermouth, and disposed of his mobile telephone”.
In view of Leggett’s not guilty plea, a trial in front of a jury will now take place at the crown court. This is due to start on May 20, and is expected to last several days.
Until then, Leggett was granted bail by Judge James Adkin on condition that he lives at Sonnets Way, Cockermouth.
Leggett faces no charges in relation to the actual collision between his vehicle and Mr Greenwood.