A man accused of murdering a footballer by running him down with his car after a pub fight "lied and concealed evidence", a court has heard.

Daniel Press, 24, from Ewell, hit William Buckingham, 21, from Morden - whose family lives in Sutton and North Cheam - with his car on the A24 London Road and left him for dead after a fight broke out between both men outside the Star Pub in Ewell, the jury at Kingston Crown Court heard.

Mr Press then hid the car used in the incident, a purple Vauxhall Calibre, in a property in Poole Road, Ewell with the help of his sister, Alyssa Press, the court was told.

The car was found a week later by police, with a broken windscreen and damage to one door, after members of the public said they had seen it being stored in the house’s garage.

Prosecutor Richard Jory, opening the case, said the fight had followed an earlier altercation involving Mr Buckingham and a friend of Mr Press, named in court as Harley Allen, while both men were drinking in the pub on September 26 last year.

Mr Allen, who was going to play football with Mr Buckingham the following weekend, was pulling him from the stool where he was sitting “in a playful way” and was punched in the chin by Mr Buckingham, who had been asking him to stop.

Mr Jory said: “Mr Allen was then ejected from the pub, but he continued to gesture through the window of the pub to Mr Buckingham.”

Mr Buckingham left the pub at 12.30am where he met Mr Press, who became involved in the fight. The men started fighting and were joined by other friends starting a big scuffle outside the pub.

According to Mr Jory, there were a number of people in the fight but no one was injured and police was called to the scene.

Mr Press then drove off in his car, the purple Vauxhall Calibre, with his girlfriend Kerry Barnett to pick up their two small children from Miss Press’ house, also in Ewell, Mr Jory said.

The prosecution claimed that, as he drove towards Miss Barnett’s house in Carshalton through the A24, with their three-year-old and nine-month-old children in the back seat, he identified Mr Buckingham walking towards Cheam with a group of friends - Matthew Weisztort, Warren Hillman and Hannah Philpot - and swerved into the pavement to hit him, shortly after 1am.

Mr Jory said: “The defendant was driving his Calibre on the same direction as the people on the pavement, on the same stretch of road.

"He drove just past Mr Hillman and Miss Philpot. The car then swerved to the left and into the pavement and hit Mr Buckingham causing him to fly into the air.”

His friends estimated the speed of the car at the time of the accident was 30mph to 50mph.

Mr Buckingham landed about 10 metres from where he was hit. One of his shoes landed on a property nearby.

The car then went back to the road and drove off, the jury heard, and it did not break at any time during the manoeuvre. Mr Buckingham was not responding to his friends, but was still breathing.

They called 999 and the paramedics took him to St George’s Hospital, where he died later in the day.

A post mortem examination indicated he had suffered severe head injuries, had a few fractured ribs and bruises.

Mr Press was arrested on Sunday afternoon and questioned by police, after Mr Allen and another friend of theirs who had been seen driving away from the pub, Carlos Lapina, had been arrested but released by police on Saturday.

Mr Press denied he was driving the car which hit Mr Buckingham and told police he had not been driving at all that night and the his sister, Miss Press, had picked him and his girlfriend from the pub that night and driven them to Carshalton.

Miss Press and Miss Barnett confirmed his alibi to police and he was released, Mr Jory said.

Mr Press was rearrested on October 6 and interviewed until the next day, when he was charged with murder.

Miss Press and Miss Barnett were charged with perverting the course of justice and pleaded guilty to the offence at a later date. Mr Jory said: “The next day all three, the defendant, his sister and Miss Barnett attended their first court hearing.

Mr Jory told the jury that while outside court DI Monck overheard Ms Barnett’s mother talking to Miss Barnett and saying ‘Dan never meant to hit him, it was an accident, he only meant to scare him.’

The prosecutor went on to say Mr Press continuously lied to police about having driven the Vauxhall Calibre that night, that there was now evidence to prove he was driving the car on that night and that that was undoubtedly the car which ran down Mr Buckingham.

Daniel Press denies murder.

The trial continues.