''Speeding driver' killed boy, 3

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/wales/south_east/7517708.stm

Version 0 of 1.

A speeding motorist ran over a three-year-old boy playing in the road and carried on his journey without stopping, a jury has been told.

Darren Jenkins, 25, denies causing the death of Joshua Venn-Howells by dangerous driving in the St Mellons area of Cardiff in July last year.

Mr Jenkins told police he was aware he had hit something but did not know what, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

Joshua was injured in the crash and died in hospital the following day.

Tom Crowther, prosecuting , said it was their case that Joshua was "clearly visible" as the driver of the car behind Mr Jenkins, of Roath, Cardiff, had been able to see him in the middle of the road.

He told the jury they would hear evidence that Mr Jenkins was speeding at the time of the collision which happened in a 30mph zone on Willowbrook Road on 27 July.

Mr Crowther said: "A group of very small boys had been playing near the road. Two witnesses saw the boys and warned them to stay away from the road."

He didn't know what he had hit and said he had not seen the boy before or after the collision Tom Crowther, prosecuting

The court heard that witness Danielle Welsh was driving behind Mr Jenkins in his blue Peugeot 307 and saw Joshua standing in the marked "hatched area" of the road.

Mr Crowther said: "She formed the view that Jenkins was not driving straight in his lane but was veering into the central hatched area where Joshua was standing.

"She saw the car hit the boy. She describes how he was thrown across the road and into the kerb."

Mr Crowther told the court that Mr Jenkins did not stop and drove off.

Another driver coming the other way told the court he was forced to "steer to avoid his Peugeot."

The court heard Mr Jenkins went to a nearby police station 30 minutes after the incident to say he had been in an accident.

Mr Crowther said: "He didn't know what he had hit and said he had not seen the boy before or after the collision."

The court heard it was "a massive failure of responsibility" of Mr Jenkins as a qualified driver which led to the death of Joshua, the second youngest of six children.

The trial continues.