THE trial of a teenager charged with causing the death of an Ulverston father by dangerous driving has begun.

Jamie Skelton, 18, appeared at Lancaster Crown Court this week where a jury has been asked to decide whether he killed 61-year-old George Tyson, of Ulverston, by driving dangerously.

The Furness youngster already pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of death by careless driving.

Mr Tyson was out walking with his adult son Garry on January 22 of last year, when he was fatally hit by a Give Way sign at the junction between Main Street, Bardsea and the A5087 Coast Road.

Prosecuting Arthur Gibson argued this was because Skelton was driving at ‘a fast and excessive speed’.

He continued: “This caused him to lose control of the car on the double right then left hand bend as he approached the junction with Main Street, with devastating consequences.”

Jurors were told that police investigations showed the car moved backwards along the pavement and collided with the Give Way sign which was knocked and then driven over.

The force of this led to the sign becoming separated from the post and it was caught in the rear wheels of the car before being flung out, striking Mr Tyson and severing a major blood vessel.

Skelton, the court heard in the opening statement, told police he thought a car was pulling out of Main Street in front of him and so he did an emergency stop, but lost control, hit a grass verge and started to spin around.

The car at the junction was that of Dr Isobel O’Donovan, which the prosecution said was ‘following the contours of the nearside pavement’.

Mr Gibson told the jurors how the doctor had seen Mr Tyson push his son to safety in her rear view mirror.

Jurors also heard from prosecution witnesses who said they had seen a small, white car, matching the description of Skelton’s along the Coast Road at around the time of the collision.

Michael Bleasdale, who was travelling towards his Ulverston home with wife Amy and three children, said: “The car was going very fast. Like a bat out of hell. It shook our car. The picture I saw in the local newspaper showing the car in the crash was the same one we saw. I am pretty sure it was.”