A MAN charged with killing a teenage cyclist in Deptford drove through a red light at a pedestrian crossing before slamming into him, sending him flying across the road, a court heard today (March 11).

Barry Normah, aged 28, of Watergate Street, Deptford, is accused of killing 18-year-old Olatunji Adeyanju, who died after being hit by a car on Deptford Church Street on March 23 last year.

The former deputy head boy at Addey and Stanhope School, known to friends as TJ, suffered major head, chest and abdominal injuries. He died at King's College Hospital later that evening.

Pedestrian Claire Ridge was standing beside him at the pedestrian crossing before he was hit by a silver Audi A3 at around 5pm.

She told the Old Bailey: "A boy on a bike came to my right hand side. He crossed the road - the red man was still showing but the cars had stopped, the traffic lights were red.

"Then I saw this car approaching really quickly and I thought 'what is this car doing - it was my turn to cross, it was the pedestrian's turn to cross'.

"I thought it was going to stop but it slammed straight into the boy. The boy flew to the other side of the road and crashed to the floor."

Jurors heard that the driver of the car initially failed to stop, continuing along Deptford Church Street, before turning around at the traffic lights and coming back to the scene.

He paused for a short while before eventually driving off again, the court was told.

Christopher Ganning, who was driving a black cab, described the car's erratic movements before the fatal accident.

He said: "The car cut in front of me and into the bus lane I was about to go into. The vehicle started to speed away.

"The lights ahead were red but the car sped up and then I heard a loud bang and I thought the car had hit a motorcycle because it was such a loud bang.

"The car went forward and then stopped for five or 10 seconds. It then sped off at speed. I could see a black boy on the floor all crumpled up."

Police later found the Audi dumped in nearby Watergate Road at around 7pm.

Normah denies causing death by dangerous driving and causing death by careless driving.

The trial continues.