Man Denies Being Hit and Run Driver
Thursday, 2nd October 2003.
A Haverhill man has denied driving a van linked to a hit and run death.
Martin Law, 22, of Sandpiper Close, denies causing the death of Ipswich man Wayne Goode by dangerous driving.
Mr Goode, 28, was killed by a hit and run driver on the A134 near Sudbury on New Years Day, Ipswich Crown Court heard this week.
He was walking alone on the road in the early hours after celebrating at a pub in Newton Green when he was struck by a van, said Christopher Morgan, prosecuting. There were no witnesses to the accident.
Forensic tests linked debris at the scene with a Ford Transit van acquired by Law from a friend two days earlier, the court was told.
Giving evidence on Tuesday, Det. Con Gary Scott said Law told police the van was not registered in his name, he did not intend to use it and had never even put the key in the ignition.
Law had claimed he was in bed at home in the early hours of New Year's Day, having got 'pretty drunk' on vodka and other alcohol, the jury of eight men and four women was told.
Telling police how unfit he would have been to drive on the night in question, he said:"I could barely see my watch - let alone focus on a road."
Asked if someone else could have used the van at the time, he said "I would not know whether someone else has driven that vehicle", the jury heard.
Mr Morgan said Law was seen in CCTV footage from Gainsborough service station on the A134 at Sudbury at 2.21am on January 1.
"The jacket which you see is the exact colour and design recovered from the defendant," claimed Mr Morgan.
The CCTV film also showed a Ford Transit van on the forecourt at 2.19am.
Mr Goode was found lying in the road at 2.41am, the jury was told.
Laws van was set alight in Haverhill late on January 5. Law told police he was indoors at the time and suspected the fire was started by children.
Mr Morgan asked the jury to consider whether Law had set it in fire to hide the evidence in the case.
Martin Law, 22, of Sandpiper Close, denies causing the death of Ipswich man Wayne Goode by dangerous driving.
Mr Goode, 28, was killed by a hit and run driver on the A134 near Sudbury on New Years Day, Ipswich Crown Court heard this week.
He was walking alone on the road in the early hours after celebrating at a pub in Newton Green when he was struck by a van, said Christopher Morgan, prosecuting. There were no witnesses to the accident.
Forensic tests linked debris at the scene with a Ford Transit van acquired by Law from a friend two days earlier, the court was told.
Giving evidence on Tuesday, Det. Con Gary Scott said Law told police the van was not registered in his name, he did not intend to use it and had never even put the key in the ignition.
Law had claimed he was in bed at home in the early hours of New Year's Day, having got 'pretty drunk' on vodka and other alcohol, the jury of eight men and four women was told.
Telling police how unfit he would have been to drive on the night in question, he said:"I could barely see my watch - let alone focus on a road."
Asked if someone else could have used the van at the time, he said "I would not know whether someone else has driven that vehicle", the jury heard.
Mr Morgan said Law was seen in CCTV footage from Gainsborough service station on the A134 at Sudbury at 2.21am on January 1.
"The jacket which you see is the exact colour and design recovered from the defendant," claimed Mr Morgan.
The CCTV film also showed a Ford Transit van on the forecourt at 2.19am.
Mr Goode was found lying in the road at 2.41am, the jury was told.
Laws van was set alight in Haverhill late on January 5. Law told police he was indoors at the time and suspected the fire was started by children.
Mr Morgan asked the jury to consider whether Law had set it in fire to hide the evidence in the case.
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