Witness tells of hearing thud when car hit man

Belinda Lombard tells the court about hearing a thud of a car hitting a victim while giving evidence yesterday.

A woman who performed CPR on the victim of an alleged hit-and-run told a jury that she had heard a car going at speed, then swerve before hearing a loud thud.

Raymond Green, 33, who has denied one count of murder, is on trial in the High Court at Tauranga.

He is accused of deliberately driving into 33-year-old Ilya Olegovich Kojevnikov on the evening of February 2 last year in Welcome Bay Rd, after Mr Kojevnikov allegedly kicked out at the car.

Belinda Lombard, giving evidence yesterday, said she lived across the road from where the deceased's body came to rest and was getting ready to go to bed about 10.45pm that night.

"... I heard a car going fast. It must have turned around at that point and maybe swerved, then I heard a thud. ... The car was going particularly fast. Faster than the speed limit.

"That is when all hell broke loose ... I bent down to Ilya and checked him for a pulse and I'm afraid there was nothing I could do, I couldn't find a pulse ...," she said. During cross examination Mrs Lombard agreed she had not seen the vehicle in question or Mr Kojevnikov get hit.

Police crash investigator Senior Constable Iain Shields told the court that there was no signs of skidmarks on the road linked to the incident.