Police investigators recreated the scene of a fatal crash in Ipswich to find out how fast a man accused of dangerous driving was travelling, a court heard.

Wednesday saw the trial of 29-year-old James Ashman continue at Ipswich Crown Court.

Ashman, of Lower Harlings, Shotley Gate, has denied causing the death of cyclist Benjamin Wright by dangerous driving on October 13, 2022.

Mr Wright, 35, died at the scene of the crash in Vernon Street after being involved in a crash. He was propelled into the path of an Volkswagen, the impact of this throwing him over a fence and into an adjacent residential garden.

Benjamin Wright died at the scene of the crash in Vernon Street in October of 2022. Image: Suffolk PoliceBenjamin Wright died at the scene of the crash in Vernon Street in October of 2022. (Image: Suffolk Constabulary)

Giving evidence in court on Wednesday was PC Mark Head, a forensic collision investigator for Suffolk police.

PC Head explained to the court that he had examined all CCTV footage available of Ashman’s Audi as it approached the crash site.

He calculated that Ashman was driving at between 51 and 59 miles per hour as he drove over Stoke Bridge towards Vernon Street.

The last piece of footage was taken from outside the Silver Star pub in Vernon Street. PC Head explained that in December of 2022, he took an Audi of the same model to Vernon Street. At about 4.30am, he drove along that stretch of road at 30, 40, 50 and then 60mph.

He then compared this footage to that of Ashman’s Audi. These comparisons were played in court.

PC Head explained that the footage of his vehicle driving at 60 mph was “very similar” to footage of Ashman, meaning that he would have been driving “in the region of 60 mph”. The limit in Vernon Street is 30 mph.

That stretch of road is around 200 metres from the crash site, meaning that the crash would have occurred approximately eight seconds later, if Ashman were driving at 60 mph.

Also giving evidence was retired forensic collision investigator Richard Godden. He observed that Mr Wright was not wearing a helmet or reflective clothing. His bicycle was also not fitted with lights.

However, he said that even had Mr Wright been wearing a helmet, this is unlikely to have saved his life.

“The force of that impact was probably unsurvivable,” he said.

Mr Godden concluded that the most compelling cause of the crash was “the decision by Mr Ashman to exceed the speed limit by a high margin” while engaged in a mobile phone conversation, although this was via Bluetooth and not a handheld device.

The trial continues.