Mercedes driver swerved into path of pedestrian and struck him, trial told

DEFENDANT SAYS HE 'PANICKED TRYING TO GET OUT OF THE WAY'

- By MARTIN NAYLOR [e-mail]

A MERCEDES driver “swerved in the direction’ of a pedestrian as he crossed the road and collided with him, leaving him with broken bones in his face, a trial has heard.

CCTV played at Nottingham Crown Court showed Israr Iqbal’s alleged victim, Arfan Alyas, sent on to the bonnet of the car and then left in the road as members of the public came out of their homes to help.

In a statement read to the court, Mr Alyas, who has since died from something wholly unrelated to the crash, told how he came to a halt as the car was coming towards him and thought to himself “why is it not stopping?”

A jury was told how his next memory was waking up on the ground surrounded by people.

The defendant, a 30-year-old chartered surveyor of Langdale Road, Bakersfield, is on trial for causing serious injury through dangerous driving.

He denies the charge, claiming his driving was not dangerous, telling the courtroom instead he “swerved trying to get out of the way”.

Prosecutor Stuart Pattinson, opening the trial, said the collision happened outside the then 29-year-old Mr Alyas’ home in Oakdale Road, Bakersfield, in the early evening of September 24, 2023.