A DRIVER who was at the wheel of a car which struck a man as he lay on a grass embankment said he may have been "distracted" at the time of the collision.
Trevor Kellett, 22, said he was driving his friend's Ford Fiesta when it hit Paul Rumney, although he did not even realise until after the impact.
Mr Kellet told Newcastle Crown Court he had been driving the car when the accident happened at Claremont Drive recreation area, in Shiney Row, near Sunderland on September 8 last year.
Defence barrister James Harper asked him: "Did you see Paul Rumney lying on the ground?"
He responded: "No sir. I must have been distracted by a gear change or something like that. My friend, who was sitting in the back, shouted and told me. He said 'you've hit something'."
Mr Kellett, of Highfield Road, Shiney Row, said he stopped the car as soon as he realised.
He denies a charge of dangerous driving.
The trial continues.
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