Burglar 'had no choice but to drive through junction before crash killed teen'
A burglar on a stolen bike had 'no choice' but to drive through a junction before the crash that claimed passenger Dean Barnes' life because he was being chased by the vehicle's 'furious' owner, a jury was told.
Dean Barnes, 16, died after he came off the bike Adam Norman was riding was in a crash at a junction in Stockport. It came after the pair and another man, Alexander Riley, had stolen three motorbikes from the shed of a home belonging to Callum Duncan.
Mr Duncan, was woken by the noise and gave chase in his car as the trio fled on the stolen bikes. Barnes took a small Yamaha PW50, commonly known as a 'Pee Wee'; Riley rode a larger Kawasaki; and Norman took the largest bike, a white and black Husqvarna, Manchester Evening News reports.
Jurors have heard the Husqvarna belonged to Mr Duncan and that the two other bikes belonged to his family and friends. Mr Duncan, 28, gave chase in his Golf GTI, in the early hours of January 24, 2023.
Shortly after realising they were being followed, Barnes left the 'Pee Wee' behind and got on the back of the Husqvarna with Norman, it has been said. Riley fled down Wharfdale Road, jurors have been told.
Mr Duncan was travelling at up to 36mph in a 20mph zone and was seen to 'bounce' over speed bumps, the court heard. He was closing the gap on the bike being driven by Norman, jurors have been told.
Riley turned right onto Gorton Road, the court has heard. Norman, jurors have been told, instead tried to ride straight, across two lanes of traffic, onto Ainsdale Grove, a residential road opposite.
Sarah Ferrige, a driver 'doing absolutely nothing wrong', came along Gorton Road from the left. Norman clipped her car, and both men fell from the bike, the jury has heard.
Jurors have heard Norman, 36, was 'lucky' and was able to walk away from the crash. But Barnes fell and hit a parked car. He was killed 'instantly'. Both Mr Duncan and Norman face a charge of causing death by dangerous driving, which they deny.
As the trial reached its final stages, Paul Hodgkinson, representing Norman, gave his closing speech to the jury. He told them: "This isn't a court of morals. This isn't some Jeremy Kyle episode where you decide where the right or wrong is. You apply the law.
"You are perfectly entitled to dislike Mr Norman, or hold him in contempt. You have to dislocate that side of your humanity, members of the jury, and you have to be cold, calm and collected, and consider the evidence and apply it to this case, as you find it."
Mr Hodgkinson claimed the 'most important question' for the jury was whether Norman had caused Barnes' death. He said Mr Duncan's car was gaining on the stolen bike and claimed that Norman risked 'serious harm or death' if he stopped.
Mr Hodgkinson said of Mr Duncan: "He was furious, and he chased him [Norman]. He accepts he was furious. But of course he would be, as you would be.
"But would you then go in your car, then, members of the jury, drive, I would say, like a maniac, and try and chase down the people that had got your motorbike? Or would you ring the police, and get them to do it?
"What caused his death was driving through that junction. He took his chances through that junction, because he had no choice.
"Mr Norman had no choice but to go through that junction, because he if he hadn't, who knows what would have happened. We could have been dealing with two deaths, rather than, unfortunately, one.
"The burglary didn't kill that boy, I'm afraid. What killed that boy was driving through that junction.
"The only reason Mr Norman had to drive through that junction was because, we say, he had no choice, because his other choice was to be crashed into by the co-defendant, who was furious. The only reason Mr Norman went into that junction was because he was being chased. If he had stopped, he was in big trouble."
Mr Duncan's barrister is due to deliver his closing speech tomorrow.
Norman, of no fixed address, but from Brinnington, Stockport, and Mr Duncan, of Salisbury Street in Reddish, both deny causing death by dangerous driving.
Norman and Riley, 21, of Blackberry Lane in Brinnington, Stockport, who is not on trial, have pleaded guilty to burglary, the jury has been told.
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