Gregg Marsh trial: Pontefract man 'driving erratically' before his car hit and killed cyclist, jury told

Gregg Marsh, 24, is charged with causing death by dangerous driving after his Ford Fiesta hit Shaun Parkin-Coates. He has also been charged with the alternative offences of causing death by careless driving while unfit through drink or drugs, and causing death by careless driving.

Marsh, of Bracken Hill, Ackworth, Pontefract, denies the offences. Opening the trial at Leeds Crown Court today, prosecutor Michael David Smith said that at 6.30am on December 21, 2019, the defendant was driving a red Ford Fiesta which crashed with Mr Parkin-Coates.

The victim was cycling home following a night shift at the Next distribution warehouse near Doncaster, while the defendant was driving from a friend’s home in Goldthorpe to his home in Ackworth.

The car and bike were travelling in the same direction on the A638, near South Elmsall, when they collided. The car did not stop at the scene and Mr Parkin-Coates died of his injuries.

Mr Smith said: “We say the defendant was driving erratically before the collision. And a feature of this case is that despite the heavy collision with the deceased, and the damage it caused to his own car, the defendant did not stop, he did not call the police, but drove a number of miles home where he parked his car, then went to bus shelter and then went back home and returned to bed.”

The jury heard that Mr Parkin-Coates was well lit, wearing reflective clothing, and lights on his rucksack and bicycle were turned on. Mr Smith said “a careful and composed driver would have been able to see him on the road”, with one witness claiming he was lit up “like a Christmas tree”.