Dylan death crash driver 'must have known he'd had serious collision' says lawyer

A prosecuting barrister told Preston Crown Court that David Harwood could have been loading her address into his satnav when he ploughed into the back of the 15-year-old’s unlit bike on a country lane in Whitestake.

Harwood, it was alleged, did not stop, or even slow down, despite the fact his wind screen was damaged in the collision and a wing mirror was broken.

“There is no doubt the defendant must have known he had had a serious collision,” said Jeremy Grant-Smith.

Harwood, 42, of The Close, New Longton, denies causing death by dangerous or careless driving. Dylan, a promising junior footballer, died the day after the accident from severe head and neck injuries.

The court heard he had been cycling with a friend along Wham Lane in Whitestake at around 11pm on a Friday night in October 2016 when the collision happened.

The boy who was with him was not injured. In a filmed interview with police, shown to the jury, he said the car had “whizzed past.” “It was just a whoosh.” The car had not swerved, slowed down or stopped, he said. It had just carried on and driven away.

Mr Grant-Smith said that earlier that night Harwood had met a young woman from Buckshaw Village on the dating site Zoosk. “They chatted for the first time and the defendant was going over to her house to meet her for the first time. So he was on his way to this assignation and he undoubtedly had amorous intentions.

“The prosecution suggest that if is established that (porgramming satnav) was what he was doing at the time, then that would be dangerous driving.”

(Proceeding)