A MURDER accused was heard laughing moments before he ran down a former paratrooper on a quiet Swindon road, a court heard.

Dario Carboni is accused of murdering 75-year-old Kenneth Kiley on July 8 last year, as the pensioner returned from a meal out at Toby Carvery with his wife, Marion.

The 25-year-old denies being the driver of the car – claiming instead it was Patrick Cunnington, also in the car at the time, who was behind the wheel.

Mr Kiley had been attempting to flag down Corsa driver Carboni, 25, on Southernwood Drive after the younger man hit the former army officer’s red Toyota Yaris on Westfield Way.

Opening the case for the Crown at Bristol Crown Court yesterday, prosecutor Adam Feest told jurors: “After their car came to rest, Mr Kiley got out of the passenger seat with a pen and piece of paper.

“He began to walk off in the direction of the blue Corsa, no doubt to get their insurance details.”

Witnesses described hearing laughter from the Corsa, as the blue Vauxhall sped from the scene of the first crash down cul-de-sac Southernwood Drive.

Realising he had hit a dead end, Carboni was said to have turned back towards Westfield Way.

Mr Kiley then stepped into the road from behind a parked car and was knocked down and killed by the blue Corsa, it was said.

Mr Feest said: “It is the Crown’s case that Mr Carboni was still driving the car at this point.”

Residents described hearing a screeching of car tyres followed by a “loud thud” at the moment that Mr Kiley was hit.

Thomas Blackwood ran out into the street with his mother after seeing Mr Kiley lying face down, with his head on the pavement and body in the road. Mr Kiley, who had suffered a fractured skull, was “bleeding heavily all over his face”.

Cunnington was the first of the Corsa’s occupants to be arrested by police.

He told detectives that he had been in Swindon that weekend and had been “up to no good” selling cannabis with Mr Carboni.

Mr Cunnington claimed to police that he told Carboni to stop after the first collision.

He said he saw Mr Kiley come out into the road from behind the parked cars, waving his arms around. He told Carboni to stop otherwise he would hit Mr Kiley but he claims that instead of stopping, Carboni put his foot down.

Mr Cunnington said that Carboni continued driving away from the scene before ditching the car.

When he asked Carboni why he did not stop, the defendant said that he did not have a licence, Mr Cunnington claimed.

Carboni denies murder, manslaughter and causing death by dangerous driving.

The trial continues.