Black Country school hit-and-run accused says brother was driving
A man accused of deliberately driving into a group of parents and children outside a school has claimed that his younger brother had admitted being the culprit.
Kevin Campbell alleged that Jason sent him a Facebook message that contained the confession, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
The 30-year-old defendant was interviewed by police soon afterwards and knew he was a suspect but neither copied nor kept the supposed message during the 12 months he still had access to the account before forgetting his password, the jury was told.
Jason was reportedly among those allegedly driven at by his brother and has subsequently maintained that Kevin was driving the stolen red Ford B Max which ploughed into the seven strong group outside Hob Green Primary School in Hob Green Road, Stourbridge on September 12 2016.
Several witnesses have told the court that Kevin was behind the wheel of the car when the hit and run incident occurred.
The vehicle, stolen in a car key burglary at an address in Brierley Hill two days earlier, was later found abandoned in a street almost five miles away.
Forensic checks did not find traces of the DNA and fingerprints of either of the two brothers in the Ford.
More from the trial:
The defendant said while giving evidence: "Jason has no reason to fit me up but that is what he has done. I should have printed or taken a screen shot of his messages but I didn't think it would get this far.
"He has told me it was him who was driving but I didn't actually see his face in the car because I was at my mother's house in Dudley when it happened.Those who said I was driving and Jason was on the pavement were either mistaken or lying.
"Soon after it happened I started to get abusive phone calls from people accusing me of being the driver. I didn't know what was going on. I asked what had happened and was told somebody had gone into a lot of people outside the school. I said it had nothing to do with me."
His mother told the jury that Kevin had been at her house at the time of the incident. Under cross examination she insisted she was not making up a story to protect her son.
It has been claimed that the seven people were either hit or narrowly missed by the Ford when it mounted the pavement and drove at them as a result of a domestic grudge. Several had hospital check ups and treatment but nobody was badly hurt.
Campbell of Vickers Walk, Stourbridge told the jury: "I had no reason to drive a car at people outside the school. I did not have a car that day."
He pleads not guilty to dangerous driving and seven charges of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.
The case continues.
