‘Hit and run driver killed 75-year-old former Para after crash’
A FORMER Paratrooper was killed after being knocked down by a driver he was trying to exchange details with following a car crash, a court heard.
from Kenneth a restaurant Kiley, 75, with was his returning wife, Marion, home when the couple were involved in a collision with another car.
The court was told the Kileys’ car span 180 degrees and hit a street sign as the other car – a blue Vauxhall Corsa – drove off with the occupants ‘laughing’.
Mr Kiley, a father of two, got out of the car with a pen and paper and began walking towards the Corsa to get the driver’s details.
A jury at Bristol Crown Court was told the Corsa driver, Dario Carboni, 24, ‘put his foot down’ and sped back along the road. He hit and killed Mr Kiley – a former British Army officer and Parachute Regiment and Intelligence Corps soldier – before speeding off again, prosecutors claim.
Carboni, from Tottenham, north London, is on trial for murder, manslaughter and death by dangerous driving. He denies all three charges.
He claims the Corsa was not being driven by him but by Patrick Cunnington, who was also in the car at the time.
Describing the accident that led to Mr Kiley’s death just yards from his home in Swindon, prosecutor Adam Feest said: ‘On July 8 last year, at around 8.30pm, Mr Kiley and his wife were returning home from a dinner.
‘A collision took place between their car and a blue Corsa travelling in the opposite direction. They came together on the roundabout, and the Kileys’ vehicle was turned nearly through 180 degrees, and ended
up against a street road sign. ‘The blue Corsa did not stop at the scene. It turned left into Southernwood Drive and drove out of sight. ‘After their car came to rest, Mr Kiley got out of the passenger seat with a pen and piece of paper. He began to walk off in the direction of the blue Corsa, no doubt to get their insurance details.’
When the Corsa driver realised the surrounding roads were culde-sacs, he began to drive back in the direction of the victim, the court heard. Mr Kiley tried to flag the vehicle down but was knocked down.
Mr Feest said: ‘It is the Crown’s case that Mr Carboni was still driving the car at this point. This is a case of murder. He deliberately victim.’ accelerated Mr Feest said towards several his residents overheard either the first or the second collision, and came out to help Mrs Kiley, who was still in her car.
Residents described hearing a screeching of tyres followed by a ‘loud thud’.
Thomas Blackwood ran into the street with his mother after seeing Mr Kiley lying face down, with his head on the pavement and body in the road.
Mr Feest said the Corsa, with Carboni and Cunnington inside, sped off before turning into another road a quarter of a mile away.
Witnesses saw the two men jump out the car and run from the scene.
One couple, Rebecca and Matthew Norman, said they overheard the two men inside the car laughing and talking as they drove away from the scene of the first collision.
Mr Norman claims he heard one of the men say something about losing a licence. Cunnington was the first of the Corsa’s occupants to be arrested. He told police he had been in Swindon that weekend and was ‘up to no good’, selling cannabis with Carboni.
Cunnington claimed he told Carboni to stop after the first collision, because they needed to check whether everyone was all right.
He then said he saw Mr Kiley come out into the road from behind parked cars, waving his arms.
He said Mr Kiley could be seen quite clearly, and he told Carboni to stop – but Carboni put his foot down on the accelerator.
Cunnington said that when he asked Carboni why he did not stop, the defendant said he did not have a licence.
Mr Kiley – who was looking forward to becoming a grandfather – died in hospital the following day.
The trial continues.
‘Put his foot down’