A CINEMA manager is on trial over a road accident which claimed a pedestrian’s life.

Harmail Singh, 34, of Birkby, appeared at Huddersfield Magistrates’ Court yesterdaycharged with driving without due care and attention.

He has pleaded not guilty.

The charge relates to an incident on June 10, 2006 when Mirfield man Craig Marples was killed in a collision with Mr Singh’s car.

The court heard that 34-year-old Mr Marples had been drinking in Mirfield, but set off at 1am to meet friends at Ricky’s Bar on Leeds Road in Huddersfield.

He had taken a taxi and was crossing Leeds Road to Ricky’s when the tragedy happened.

Police interviews with Mr Singh were read in court.

In interview, he said he was driving along Leeds Road to get to the cash machine at the Odeon cinema at Bradley Mills.

He said he had noticed Mr Marples waiting to cross the road at traffic lights near the junction with Canal Street.

Mr Singh said he could not remember whether Mr Marples was standing on the central reservation of Leeds Road or in the middle of the two Leeds-bound lanes.

However, he assumed the man would allow his car to pass before attempting to cross. Mr Singh said he drove the route every day to work as a duty manager at the Odeon cinema and people regularly crossed the road in this way.

He said: “I just did not think he was going to move, so I carried on going. It is habit.”

However, Mr Marples – who had drunk the equivalent of nine pints of lager – did try to cross and ended up in the path of Mr Singh’s silver Citroen Saxo.

He hit the front right side of the car and was thrown on to the windscreen before ending up on the pavement. He suffered fatal head injuries.

Mr Singh admitted that he had been travelling at 35mph because he thought the speed limit on Leeds Road was 40mph.

Pc Philip Jackson, of West Yorkshire Police collision investigation unit, said the car’s speed would have been over 30mph.

Mr Singh also said he had not signalled that he was going to switch lanes to get in position to turn right as there were no other cars around.

Prosecution solicitor Roger Woodward said the trial was not about whether Mr Singh or Mr Marples caused the accident, but whether Mr Singh was driving with enough care and attention to avoid it.

He said: “The trial is here to determine whether or not Mr Singh exercised the standard required of a reasonable and prudent motorist. The prosecution says he did not.”

The trial was adjourned to October 1.