Soccer star fled fatal crash scene

WEST BROM striker Lee Hughes fled the scene of a fatal accident after crashing his £100,000 sports car into another vehicle as he returned home from a night out at two pubs, a jury heard yesterday.

The 28-year-old allegedly lost control of the powerful Mercedes coupe on a bend near his home in Meriden, West Midlands.

Opening the case for the prosecution at Coventry Crown Court, Melbourne Inman said Hughes, who denies causing death by dangerous driving, was travelling “very fast” on the wrong side of the road just before ploughing into a Renault Scenic in Pickford Grange Lane.

A rear seat passenger in the Renault, 56-year-old Douglas Graham, of Eastern Green, Coventry, died almost immediately when the car was catapulted across the road and into a lamppost by the force of the crash.

The court was told that the defendant and his friend in the front of the Mercedes fled the scene. Hughes then hid for 36 hours.

In court, Hughes sat in the dock at the back, frequently leaning forward to study documentary evidence given to jurors.