The drivers of two different cars have gone on trial accused of running over a chip shop owner who was killed as he walked home along a main road.

Gareth Toms had been drinking before he was fatally injured in the incident on the A380 at Newton Abbot in the early hours of the morning in July 2015.

A jury at Exeter Crown Court heard the first car to hit him was driven by Stephen Hickinbottom, who had allegedly been using a mobile phone shortly before the collision.

Mr Toms was lying injured in the road when he was allegedly hit for a second time by a second car driven by Anthony Keene.

Hickinbottom is on trial for causing death by careless driving while Keen is accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice by covering up evidence of the second collision.

The two accidents happened within 20 or 30 seconds of each other in a stretch of roadworks on the Torquay side of the Penn Inn roundabout and left 30-year-old Mr Toms with fatal injuries. He died at the scene.

Hickinbottom, aged 53, of Danvers Road, Torquay, denied causing death by careless driving and dangerous driving. Keene, aged 59, denies perverting the course of justice.

Mr Richard Posner, prosecuting, said Hickinbottom may have been distracted by his mobile phone before the collision but there was no evidence he was on it at the moment of impact.

He said Mr Keene’s car had then run over the victim and dragged him six metres but neither driver stopped. Hickinbottom drove with his Chrysler Delta in an unsafe condition while Keen told a mechanic he had hit a badger.

Hickinbottom later told police he heard a bang but thought a water butt had been thrown under his car and drove on with a shattered windscreen because he thought an attempted carjacking was in progress.

Mr Posner said the accidents happened at 1.13am on July 26, 2015 when Mr Toms was walking in the carriageway of the A380 South Devon highway near Newton Abbot, Devon.

He said: ’He had been drinking. At the same time there were a series of roadworks taking place on the A380 near where he was walking.

’A number of other drivers saw Mr Toms walking in the road and took action to avoid hitting him.

’Hickinbottom struck Mr Toms because, the prosecution say, he was not paying sufficient attention to the road in front of him. There is evidence he was using a telephone at about the time of the collision.

’There is no evidence it was being used unlawfully but it was a distraction that caused him to fail to see him walking in the road.

’Mr Toms struck the windscreen of Hickinbottom’s car and he ultimately fell to the road surface behind.

’About 20 seconds later a second vehicle, a Ford Focus travelling the same way being driven by Keene, then drove over Mr Toms dragging his body under the car for over six metres.

’It is not possible to prove that Anthony Keene caused the death of Gareth Toms.

’Hickinbottom later said he believed his car had been struck by something that may have been thrown at his car, a blue water butt.

’There is no evidence of Mr Toms straying into the path of Hickinbottom’s car or that his car had attempted to brake before the collision.

’Hickinbottom should have seen Mr Toms walking along the road. Keene should have seen Mr Toms lying in the road.

’After the collision Anthony Keene took his car to a garage. He told the mechanic there was some damage to the underside where his wife had hit a badger the night before.’

’In police interviews Keene denied saying this and said he told the mechanic his wife ’had struck a bollard and not a person’.

The trial continues.