Matthew Cobden leaving Winchester Crown Court today, Thursday February 22
The driver of a £1.2 million Ferrari accused of killing a 13-year-old boy told court it ‘took off uncontrollably’ and that neither were wearing seatbelts at the time of the collision.
Matthew Cobden, 29, said he did not intend on going more than 10mph in the Ferrari F50, which he said was in second gear. Mr Cobden claims the car sped off as soon as he touched the accelerator, causing it to smash into a wooden post and fly through the air.
After the crash, Cobden realised schoolboy Alexander Worth had been flung out the vehicle and was lying face down on the road.
Mr Cobden runs a storage unit for 160 high-performance cars, including a £22 million Ferrari Nart Spyder, at a farm where the crash happened in North Warnborough, Hants.
The pair had only met the teenager two hours before the incident and Cobden had offered to take Alexander on a short drive rather than having a photograph inside the vehicle.
Alexander was at the car storage unit with his mother Arabella and partner Justin Smith, who was dropping a car battery off to Cobden.
The smash happened on a narrow concrete road and Alexander was declared dead at the scene, Winchester Crown Court heard.
The married father-of-one denies causing death by dangerous driving.
Today the court heard that Cobden told police: ‘The roadway is wholly unsuitable for driving at speed and I had no intention of taking the car above 10mph.’
In a statement, Cobden told the court he routinely takes out high performance cars at a low speed as they have to be ‘run up’ to maintain their condition.
Mr Cobden runs a storage unit for 160 high-performance cars, including a £22 million Ferrari Nart Spyder, at a farm where the crash happened in North Warnborough, Hants
He said: ‘Justin asked if Alexander could sit in the car for a photograph. I said I was going to run it up and down the track, perhaps Alexander would like to join me for that.
‘Alex got into the car. Neither of us had seatbelts on, because I had no intention of going at anything more than a very low speed and just along the track.’
Describing the moment of the crash, he added: ‘As soon as I touched the accelerator the car took off uncontrollably. I do not know if the accelerator pedal jammed or what had happened, but I am certain that nothing I did caused the car to speed up in the way that it did.’
Matthew Cobden (pictured, right) is on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of causing the death by careless driving of Alexander Worth (left)
He continued: ‘The next thing I was aware of was being out of the car and on the ground.
‘I looked around me and saw Alexander lying face down on the ground some distance away. I went straight back to him, either walking or crawling. I turned him over and saw that he was unconscious.
‘He appeared to have an injury to one of his arms, I was tapping his face to try and revive him and at the same time shouted for help.’
He added: ‘It is impossible to express in words how terrible I feel about what happened. I have sent a message of sorrow and condolence to Alexander’s parents. I am at a loss to explain how the accident occurred.’
Cobden told the court that he had been working with high performance cars ‘his whole adult life’, having driven ‘anything and everything’.
He is insured to drive all the cars in his unit and charges his customers £6 a day.
The Ferrari crashed after Cobden offered Alexander a ride near the car storage firm he ran
CCTV shown to the jury shows the Ferrari F50 (circled) driving off just before the crash
Cobden added: ‘I have worked with high-performance cars my whole adult life and I consider myself to be a experienced, but always careful, driver and someone who knows how to handle high performance cars properly.’
Crash investigator Colin Norris denied Cobden’s claims that six of the Ferrari F50’s 12 cylinders could have ‘cut in’ and caused the vehicle to accelerate.
The court has previously heard Cobden told police in interview he pressed the accelerator ‘very gently’.
The trial continues.
Police investigators at the crash scene in North Warnborough, Hampshire today
Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.