A drunk Mercedes driver who had just picked his children up from school murdered a cyclist after the victim had called him a 'd***head', a court heard.
David Morgan, 40, swerved his car into cyclist Richard Smith, 50, in Norwich on May 8, after he got angry that Smith had allegedly touched his wing mirror and sworn at him.
Mr Smith, a father-of-three, had been cycling home from work when he hit a kerb, flew over his handlebars and suffered devastating head injuries, despite wearing a helmet. He died three days later in hospital.
Today, Norwich Crown Court heard how Morgan had drunk about four pints at a pub before he went to pick up his two children from primary school at around 3pm.
Mr Smith was on his way home from his job at a fire hose company shortly after 5pm when he encountered Morgan.
Prosecutor Charles Myatt told the court: 'David Morgan was driving his white Mercedes along Chartwell Road when he collided with a cyclist, Richard Smith.
'It's the crown's case that the collision was a deliberate act by David Morgan and was possibly done by some perceived slight he had suffered from Mr Smith moments before.
'As a result of the collision, Mr Smith was thrown into the air and onto the road.'
Father-of-three Richard Smith (pictured), 50, a sales manager at a fire safety firm, died after suffering traumatic head injuries on May 8
David Morgan (pictured), 40, was drunk while driving his Mercedes with his children in tow, a court heard today
Mr Wyatt continued: 'He suffered extensive head injuries. He was wearing a protective helmet. He died three days later in hospital on May 11 this year.'
Witnesses told police they had seen Morgan deliberately swerve into Mr Smith and knock him off his bike.
Police collected CCTV footage from the Sole and Heel pub in the Rackheath area of Norwich.
It showed Morgan, wearing a white tracksuit, entering the pub at 12.30pm on May 8 and drinking four pints of Peroni lager.
He was then seen leaving at around 3pm to go and pick his children from primary school.
The police said Morgan then returned to the pub with his children in tow, having sent a friend a message at 3.40pm saying: 'Yo, oi, I'm now heading to the Sole and Heel so I'll be there in eight minutes. Do you want to meet me there. I'm with [the names of his children]. Do not fucking let me down bro.'
It was when he was travelling from that second visit to the pub and into Norwich at around 5pm that he hit Mr Smith.
He was travelling from that second visit to the pub and into Norwich at around 5pm when he hit Mr Smith.
Mr Smith, pictured in a photo released by his family, was rushed to Norwich Hospital but died three days after being hit by Morgan's car, on May 11
The court heard that ten minutes before the collision, at about 4.50pm, Morgan and Mr Smith were each travelling along Chartwell Road separately.
One woman told police that she had been driving along the same road at that time with Morgan's white Mercedes behind her.
She saidthat they arrived at some traffic lights and Mr Smith was on her right-hand side, she said in her evidence.
Mr Myatt told the court: 'She heard the cyclist sound as if he was shouting at the Mercedes driver, calling him something like a d***head or k***head.'
The lights turned green and Mr Smith went ahead of her and returned to the left-hand side of the road.
She then overtook the cyclist. Mr Myatt said: 'She saw the Mercedes appeared to be trying to overtake her.
'She saw that as the Mercedes came alongside the cyclist, the Mercedes moved quickly to the left and drove at the cyclist. She heard the sound of the impact and saw the cyclist flip over the handlebars and land on his head and shoulders on the road.
'After that, the Mercedes went on, drove past her and did not stop.'
She took the Mercede's registration number.
Another male witness had been driving in the opposite direction. Mr Myatt said: 'He saw the Mercedes making contact with the cyclist and could see the Mercedes was gesturing at the cyclist with his outstretched left arm as if he was shaking his fist or finger. It appeared he was saying something while making that gesture.'
Mr Smith suffered fractures to the right side and base of his skull and cause of death was logged as 'traumatic head injuries'.
He was rushed to Norwich Hospital, where medics determined that he could not survive his head injuries. He died at around 5pm on May 11, three days later.
Morgan was initially arrested on suspicion of attempted murder just before 7pm on May 8.
'When he was asked if he understood the reason for his arrest, he said he believed the driver of his vehicle had been in a collision,' Mr Myatt said.
He later admitted that he had been driving and told police: 'He's punched my wing mirror and deliberately hit my wing mirror and [it] fell off… He hit my wing mirror and he called me a d***head when I had my kids in the car.'
He was taken to the police station where he was breathalysed and found to have 57mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath.
Mr Myatt said: 'He explained that the cyclist had hit his car and he, Morgan, had called him an idiot.
'When he looked in his rear view mirror he could see the cyclist sitting by the side of the road with someone with him.'
'He told police: "As far as I was aware there was no collision."'
The court also heard that Morgan told police he'd been staying at his father's and had gone straight to his father's home after collecting the children and was going back to the pub to meet the children's mother.
Mr Myatt said: 'When asked if he'd taken anything before, he said he would not do that as he was not r******* and he was picking up his kids.
'He said he'd only drunk alcohol afterwards.'
Morgan said he had not swerved left [into the cyclist] and had only swerved right. He made no comment after being shown photos of the damage to his car.
Mr Myatt said: 'Dashcam and other video footage clearly shows that Morgan was not telling police the truth.
'We now know he had been drinking alcohol prior to going to pick up his children and possibly after. He drove to the left and deliberately, the crown says, ran his car into Mr Smith.'
Police seized CCTV footage with sound recording from a neighbour's house in George Winter Court, where Morgan had gone after the collision.
In the footage he is seen on the phone outside his father's house describing what had happened.
He is seen speaking into his phone saying: 'Some kid came past me, he hit the f****** wing mirror, punched it.
'I said "F*** you, you c***" and swerved into him. He's moved, hit the kerb and gone flying…I swerved into him and went "Fuck you"… and he's knocked off.
'He's hit the kerb and fallen off. I'm not having it. No c*** is going to touch my car.'
Mr Myatt said: 'The crown says that this conversation clearly demonstrates that Morgan deliberately swerved his Mercedes into Mr Smith.'
The public gallery was filled with friends and family of Morgan and Mr Smith.
Morgan appeared in the dock with a closely shaved beard and wearing an open-necked white shirt and black trousers.
At the start of Monday's hearing, the indictment was amended to include a second count of manslaughter, to which he pleaded guilty.
The trial continues.
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