THE man who caused the death of 16-year-old scooter rider Jade Clark this morning insisted he did not intend to pervert the course of justice.

Giving evidence on day three of the trial, Brian Hampton told Bournemouth Crown Court that he was unaware he had been involved in an accident and believed the front-end damage to his Volvo XC90 was caused by a rock or by hitting a manhole or pothole.

Follow live coverage from day three of the trial here

He said: “I felt a jolt. I genuinely believed it was a manhole or similar.”

Hampton, 58, said he was adamant he hadn’t been involved in a collision but decided to plead guilty to causing death by careless driving on the A31 on February 24 this year when his solicitor showed him the evidence against him.

“It was the only honest and right thing to do.”

He said his younger sister died in a road accident 30 years ago. “Until the day they died my parents never had any closure on it. We never found out who it was.

“I didn’t want Mr and Mrs Clark to go through that.”

Hampton agreed he had told a series of lies to his wife, mechanics, his work and the police.

Hampton said it took him nine hours to drive from Poole to Kent the afternoon after the accident, avoiding the motorways so he could stop in the lay-bys to rest his swollen legs. He said he booked himself into a hotel room in Kent that evening because he “didn’t want to face the wife”.

It was put to Hampton that he went to the garage in Kent to have his vehicle fixed to “frustrate” the police investigation.

He replied: “I had no rush to get it repaired.

“If I was trying to hide I could have taken it straight to the garage the next day. I wasn’t aware there was an accident.”

Hampton denied suggestions from Simon Jones, prosecuting, that he was a compulsive liar and had not shown any remorse.

Mr Jones said: “There is not a thought for Jade Clark or her family is there?”

“Every day sir.”

The court has previously heard that Hampton has also admitted to driving without insurance and while disqualified.

Hampton, a health and safety project manager for the railways of Hornash Lane in Shadoxhurst, Ashford, Kent, denies perverting the course of justice by arranging for collision damage to be repaired to his Volvo XC90 in a bid to evade justice.

The jury are expected to retire to consider their verdict later today.