A Spalding taxi driver described how he was forced to emergency brake after he saw two cars colliding with each other shortly before a fatal crash.
Sean Burlton, 28, drowned after the car he was a passenger in left the road and entered a water filled ditch on Counter Drain Drove, in Tongue End, on November 24, 2023.
A jury at Lincoln Crown Court heard evidence from taxi driver Nadeem Mahmood who became aware of three cars infront of him as he travelled along The Delph towards Counter Drain Drove.
Mr Mahmood, who was taking three primary children home from school, described how he saw the Ford Focus overtake the VW Touran and then do an emergency stop.
“It (Ford Focus) emergency braked, it slammed on the brakes when it got infront,” Mr Mahmood explained. “I had to emergency brake myself.”
Mr Mahmood said he then saw a Vauxhall Insignia driving side by side next to the VW Touran and a small collision between the two vehicles.
“I reduced my speed to 30mph because I had to emergency brake a couple of times,” Mr Mahmood told the jury.
Prosecution barrister Gordon Aspden KC asked Mr Mahmood what opinion he formed of the driving.
“At the start with the emergency brake and the overtake I thought they were friends racing each other, Mr Mahmood said.
“After the collision I thought it was something else, maybe they were not friends.”
The prosecution allege the Focus went into a water-filled drain after attempting to cut up Mr McMullon’s car on a left-hand bend further up Counter Drain Drove.
Emergency services attended and firefighters freed Mr Burlton from the vehicle but he had stopped breathing. A post-mortem confirmed he had drowned.
Mr Burlton’s partner, Vanessa Gratton, and Scott Biggs both deny conspiring with Burlton to cause actual bodily harm to Mr McMullon between 22 and 25 November 2023.
The jury heard Bailey Fitzgerald, 29, of Brownlow Crescent, Pinchbeck, was driving the Focus and Max Prior, 21, of London Road, Spalding, was a passenger, along with Mr Burlton.
Sam Johnson, 26, of Johnson Avenue, Spalding, was driving the Vauxhall Insignia, which was allegedly also following Mr McMullon’s car.
The court heard Sam Clift, 35, of Brownlow Crescent, Pinchbeck, Josh Copnell, 22, of Rose Lane, Pinchbeck, and Biggs, 33, of Spalding Common, Spalding, were passengers in the Insignia.
Jurors heard there was an ongoing dispute between Mr McMullon and Gratton, 31, of West Parade, Spalding, over custody visits.
CCTV footage showed Mr McMullon’s car leaving his contact visit in Spalding and being followed by the Focus and Insignia.
Mr McMullon told police the only person who knew the time of the contact visit was Gratton.
The trial continues.
