A man accused of causing the death of a Coventry pensioner in an M42 crash says he did not know the DVLA had revoked his licence, a judge has heard.
Tony Owens pleaded not guilty at Warwick Crown Court to causing the death of 83-year-old Raymond Goode by driving a Peugeot 307 dangerously in August last year.
Owens (36) of Charlbury Avenue, Fordbridge, Birmingham, also pleaded not guilty to causing serious injury to 74-year-old Cathryn Goode by dangerous driving.
He has also been charged with failing to stop after the accident, failing to report it, driving without insurance and driving without a licence – but those matters were not put to him during the hearing.
The charges follow a crash involving the Peugeot and the Goodes’ gold-coloured Vauxhall Agila on the M42 between junctions 10 and 11, near Tamworth, at around 8.50pm on August 19.
The emergency services attended rapidly, but front seat passenger Mr Goode, from Coventry, was declared dead at the scene.
Mrs Goode, who was driving, was in a critical condition, and was rushed by ambulance to hospital, where her condition a couple of days later was said to be ‘serious but stable.’
Owens is alleged to have driven from the scene, but was charged after later handing himself in at a Birmingham police station.
After he had entered his pleas, Judge Peter Cooke asked: “Is he still saying he was ignorant of the fact that the DVLA had revoked his licence?” And Owens’ lawyer said he was.
The case was adjourned for trial, which is expected to last up to four days – and cannot be listed with a fixed date until January of next year.
Owens was granted bail, but Judge Cooke warned him: “Remember, you do not have a driving licence. You are not to get behind the wheel of a car.”
