A CAR skidded for more than 30 metres and was travelling at 36mph when it struck and killed a Radcliffe schoolgirl, a court heard.

Paul Madeley (31) was driving his Toyota MR2 along Bolton Road, Radcliffe, when it collided with Natalie Danielle Pickwick Jones.

The 15-year-old Radcliffe High pupil, of Olsberg Close, had been crossing the road, near to its junction with the Chefs Pantry sandwich shop, at about 11pm on February 27 this year, when she was struck by the car. She died on arrival at Fairfield Hospital.

Madeley, of Grindrod Street, Radcliffe, denies causing death by dangerous driving.

On the third day of his trial at Bolton Crown Court, PC David Winstanley, from the Greater Manchester Police accident investigation unit, revealed tests carried out on Madeleys car after the accident indicated that the vehicle was travelling at around 58mph in a 30mph zone when the driver began to brake and skidded 30 metres.

He said the car was calculated as travelling at around 36mph at the point of impact.

In a statement to police, which was read out in court yesterday morning, Madeley said: "There was nobody there, and then I saw a figure move from the right hand side and by the time I got to the brakes, she was in front of the car."

The court earlier heard how Madeley had overtaken a Peugeot 106 at a high speed shortly before the collision.

Peugeot driver Matthew Fitzgerald told the court he thought that the MR2 overtook at approximately 70mph, before pulling back into the lane in front of him.

Mr Fitzgerald said he was travelling at about 35 mph and "the overtaking just seemed unnecessary."

The three other passengers in the Peugeot, Mr Fitzgerald's girlfriend, Tracey Williamson, her brother, Gareth Williamson, and his girlfriend, Carla Dyson, all commented on the speed at which Mr Madeley was travelling as he overtook their car.

The court heard how Tracey Williamson grabbed Mr Fitzgeralds leg while he was driving and

screamed for him to stop when she saw someone had been run over.

The court also heard how two of Natalie's friends had been with her moments before she was

knocked down.

The 14 and 15-year-olds, who cannot be named, had been walking with Natalie along Homer Street towards Bolton Road, when one of them received a text message on a mobile phone.

As the two of them stopped to read the message, they heard the MR2 in the distance, but Natalie ran across the road and was hit before she had made it across.

One of the youngsters added: "Natalie must have thought she would be able to make it across, otherwise I don't think she would have done it."

Prosecutor Mr Paul McDonald, in his opening statement, said: "It seems that Natalie decided to cross and ran out into the carriageway but no-one can say if she saw the cars approaching from her left. She may have misjudged them if she had seen them."

Mr McDonald referred to an interview given by the defendant to police in which he admitted driving above the speed limit, but said he thought he was driving between 40mph and 50mph.

"Natalies action might have played a part, but the speed in itself was dangerous. The manner of the defendants driving caused this collision and with it the untimely death of Natalie," he said.

The prosecution told how Natalie and her group of friends had congregated at a bus stop at the bottom of Ainsworth Road earlier in the evening.

Mr McDonald said: "The group often did this, and often took alcohol not an uncommon feature these days. The group would also often persuade members of the public to go into shops and buy alcohol for them.

"Natalie might already have consumed alcohol that night as tests showed, following her death, that she was two times over the legal limit."

The trial continues.