Child 'crossed road', court told

Joshua Venn-Howells, three, was badly injured and died the next day

A motorist saw a child running back and forth across a road in front of her car minutes before a three-year-old boy was knocked over, a court has heard.

Joshua Venn-Howells was injured in the collision with a blue Peugeot at St Mellons, Cardiff, last July and died the following day.

At Cardiff Crown Court, Darren Jenkins, 25, from the Roath area, denies causing death by dangerous driving.

The court has been told he did not stop after running over Joshua.

Louise Andrews, who was driving along Willowbrook Drive, St Mellons shortly before the collision, told the court she was forced to slow down to avoid a boy, aged two or three, running across the road.

Ms Andrews said that when the boy reached one side of the road "he bounced up and down like he was pleased with himself, then he ran straight back".

Asked by defence barrister Daniel Williams whether the boy had looked where he was going, she replied: "No, he definitely didn't look."

If he was lying when he said he hadn't seen the boy and had in fact seen him he should have taken steps to slow to avoid him Tom Crowther, prosecuting

She said: "I passed him quite slowly, but then I stopped because I could see another car behind me and I saw the child do the same thing again - going from right to left."

Ms Andrews said there were a number of other children watching him from a wall at the side of the road.

Asked by prosecutor Tom Crowther if she had been concerned, she said: "I was. Very. I've got children and I had my children in the car. I was concerned somebody was going to hit him."

She said the boy she saw had not been wearing any shoes or socks.

Joshua, who was not wearing shoes when he was hit shortly afterwards, left a footprint in the brake dust of one of the Peugeot's wheels as he was spun around by the impact, the court heard.

In his opening statement, Mr Crowther said Mr Jenkins went to a police station within half an hour of Joshua being knocked over and told officers he was aware he had hit something but did not know what.

Mr Crowther said it was the prosecution's case that Joshua was "clearly visible in the road" as Danielle Welsh, who was driving behind Mr Jenkins, had been able to see him.

30mph road

Mr Crowther told the court that if Jenkins did not see Joshua, as he says, he could not have been looking carefully enough.

"If he was lying when he said he hadn't seen the boy and had in fact seen him he should have taken steps to slow to avoid him," he said.

Ms Welsh told the court she was driving at about 40mph on the 30mph road and that she thought the Peugeot was going faster than her vehicle.

She also described how half of the Peugeot was being driven on hatching [markings in the middle of the road] in the centre of Willowbrook Drive when the collision happened.

She said she saw the little boy before the collision and that he had been standing still in the middle of the hatching when he was hit.

She said that while she stopped to help, the Peugeot did not brake or slow down.

The trial continues.