Jack death car speed 'was 60mph'

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A car which killed a young boy was travelling at 60mph as it approached the pedestrian crossing where he was walking, a court has heard.

Specialist methods were used to work out the speed the Peugeot 406 was travelling on Saughton Road North in Edinburgh on 5 October 2006.

The High Court in Glasgow also heard how the car was a high-powered former Strathclyde Police patrol vehicle.

Isaac Purcell, 26, denies murdering Jack Anderson last October.

The speed calculated from the CCTV footage is the more accurate of the two speeds Pc Andrew ScottLothian and Borders Police

Mr Purcell is accused of speeding along several roads in the Corstorphine area of the city and fatally injuring him.

He is also accused of failing to stop after the accident and abandoning his vehicle in a prison car park.

Mr Purcell denies the charges but has admitted driving the car which hit Jack.

The court was shown CCTV footage from a nearby resident's house which showed the Peugeot 406 approaching the crossing.

Pc Andrew Scott, 38, a collision investigator with Lothian and Borders Police, told the court that stills from the footage showed the car at certain reference points.

On 22 October they used a similar police Peugeot to recreate the scene and obtained stills of the police car in the same spot as the original Peugeot.

Using the police car as a reference they then worked out the speed at which the original Peugeot had been travelling.

Isaac Purcell has admitted driving the car which hit Jack

Pc Scott said: "The point of the exercise was to put the Peugeot 406 motor car on the road in exactly the same position so that what we are looking at should be the two vehicles in exactly the same position on the road.

"I was then able to establish the distance travelled by the vehicle was 19.4 metres.

"There were 18 images on the video footage and with that information I was able to calculate the speed of the vehicle, and on the approach to the pedestrian crossing it was 60.27mph."

Pc Scott also told the court that he carried out another calculation of the speed at which the Peugeot approached the crossing by measuring the distance Jack's body was thrown.

He told the court that the body did not travel in a straight line but hit a van before landing on the pavement.

Under-estimate

He then used a special formula which suggested that the car had been travelling at a mean speed of 40mph.

But he said the figure calculated from the CCTV was more accurate.

He said: "The speed calculated from the CCTV footage is the more accurate of the two speeds.

"The speed calculated from the pedestrian crossing is an under-estimate."

The prosecution has lodged an alternative charge for Mr Purcell of causing death by dangerous driving, which he denies.

Mr Purcell also denies driving without insurance and failing to report an accident.