Man, 83, dragged beneath van in fatal collision, court hears

Josef Moscicki is accused of hitting 83-year-old Bernard James Smith with his Ford Transit van in Burns Avenue, Stafford and dragging him more than 650ft under the vehicle.

The pensioner was discovered at the junction of Shakespeare Road and Wordsworth Avenue in the early hours of Christmas Day last year.

Residents and visitors to the area on Christmas Eve told Wolverhampton Crown Court they had seen a white Transit van being driven at speed in Wordsworth Avenue and Burns Avenue.

Barbara Hawker, who had been visiting her mother in Wordsworth Avenue, said she saw a white van speeding past her on the afternoon of Christmas Eve.

She told the jury: "How it made the corner, I don't know."

Jacqueline Abrahams, a resident of Burns Avenue, said she saw a white van being driven quickly onto the driveway of a home in the street, before leaving and coming back on several occasions within a few minutes.

When asked about the speed the vehicle was travelling, she said: "It was as though he was in rather a hurry."

She said she saw police officers outside her home in the early hours of Christmas Day and when she asked what was going on, she was told there had been a fatality and to go back indoors.

Mr Smith, known as Jim, suffered broken arms, a broken leg, fractures to his breast bone, ribs and spine, torn ligaments and brain injury during a fatal collision.

He had been walking to his home in Shakespeare Road from Highfields Social Club.

Moscicki is also accused of returning to the scene after allegedly hitting him the first time to drive over his legs as he laid in the road injured and unconscious.

The 23-year-old, of Little Acres, Gorse Ride North, Wokingham, Berkshire, denies murder but has admitted death by dangerous driving.

The court had already been told that Moscicki had been stopping at his girlfriend's grandmother's home in Burns Avenue.

He had gone out drinking with his girlfriend and others in Stafford on Christmas Eve, but became separated from the group.

Carl Stringer, who had been working for AJ's Taxis in Stafford at that time, said he had agreed to take Moscicki in his taxi after he turned up at the firm's office.

He said he had taken his passport and bank card as Moscicki had no money and agreed to drive him to a cash point so he could pay the fare.

During the journey, Mr Stringer told the court that there was 'quite a bit of chatter' and his passenger was 'drunk and raged'.

The trial continues.