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Woman held fatally injured Jack | Woman held fatally injured Jack |
(about 4 hours later) | |
A woman has told a murder trial how she held the hand of a 10-year-old boy, seconds after he was hit and fatally injured by a car in Edinburgh. | A woman has told a murder trial how she held the hand of a 10-year-old boy, seconds after he was hit and fatally injured by a car in Edinburgh. |
Samantha Jane Sharp told the High Court in Glasgow she was the first to reach Jack Anderson as he lay in the gutter. | Samantha Jane Sharp told the High Court in Glasgow she was the first to reach Jack Anderson as he lay in the gutter. |
Isaac Purcell, 26, has admitted driving the car but denies murder. | Isaac Purcell, 26, has admitted driving the car but denies murder. |
He is accused of speeding on a number of Edinburgh roads before hitting the boy on Saughton Road North and of failing to stop after the collision. | He is accused of speeding on a number of Edinburgh roads before hitting the boy on Saughton Road North and of failing to stop after the collision. |
Jack died in Edinburgh on 5 October 2006. | Jack died in Edinburgh on 5 October 2006. |
Ms Sharp, 33, described the events last October when she had picked up her niece and daughter from school and was driving to pick up her son when a dark green Peugeot 406 car drove up behind her. | Ms Sharp, 33, described the events last October when she had picked up her niece and daughter from school and was driving to pick up her son when a dark green Peugeot 406 car drove up behind her. |
His head was lying in the gutter. I checked for a pulse but there wasn't any Samantha Jane Sharp | |
It overtook her travelling in what she described as "a dangerous, erratic and stupid manner". | It overtook her travelling in what she described as "a dangerous, erratic and stupid manner". |
Seconds later she saw it pull out onto the wrong side of the road as it approached a red light. | Seconds later she saw it pull out onto the wrong side of the road as it approached a red light. |
She said she saw a boy step onto the road and then him being hit and thrown into the air. | She said she saw a boy step onto the road and then him being hit and thrown into the air. |
Ms Sharp added: "His head was lying in the gutter. I checked for a pulse but there wasn't any. | |
"His mouth was full of blood and I tried to put him on his side. | |
"He had a big gash on the back of his head. I put my hand over his mouth to see if I could feel breath. | |
Ambulance arrived | |
"I just held his hand while I was waiting for an ambulance to come. It came very quickly I said to the ambulance men should I go but they said 'no, stay with him'. | |
Another witness broke down in tears as she told the court how Jack Anderson smiled at her just seconds before he was knocked down. | |
Sharron Scott, 43, said that the boy took two steps onto the road and was hit by a car as he crossed with the "green man" signal. | |
She told the court: "When I approached the lights and stopped in my car he looked at me and smiled as if to say thanks for stopping. | |
"He looked up at the lights to make sure it was definitely okay to cross. | |
The accused denies murdering Jack in the crash last year | |
"I looked in my mirrors. He wasn't there. One minute he was there and the next minute he was gone. | |
"I looked round and just saw something in the air and something black landed beside my car. It was his shoe." | |
Mrs Scott, who was driving her daughter and grandchild, said that as the Peugeot drove towards her she saw the driver and the front seat passenger laughing. | |
She denied a suggestion by defence counsel Bert Kerrigan QC that she was wrong in thinking the occupants were laughing because she had only caught a brief glimpse of the car. | |
Alternative charge | |
Mrs Scott also told the court that the car did not appear to brake or slow down. | |
The jury was played the tape of an emotional 999 call in which the operator had to repeatedly tell Mrs Scott to calm down. | |
Mr Purcell is accused of driving with criminal disregard for the safety of other road users and murdering Jack as he crossed with the "green man" at a pedestrian crossing in Saughton Road North, Edinburgh, on 5 October last year. | |
He is charged with driving at 60mph to overtake a line of cars stopped at the crossing and speeding through a red light on the wrong side of the road. | |
The prosecution has also alleged an alternative charge of causing Jack's death by dangerous driving. | |
He denies all the charges against him. | |
The trial before Lord Uist continues. |