A YOUNG man died after he was assaulted and left unconscious in the road, where he was run over by a taxi, a manslaughter trial jury heard.

Sam Wilson, 21, was walking with a friend, Henry Smith, in Haxby Road, York, in the early hours of October 11 on their way to a club in the city centre when violence erupted near the Nestlé factory.

Graham Reeds, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court yesterday the incident began when two men on bikes passed the pair and one of the men shouted some insult which was “reciprocated.”

The two men, alleged to be Linden Smith and Robbie McHale, then left their bikes in the road and walked back to them, Linden Smith pushing his forehead to Henry Smith’s forehead, saying: aggressively “Do you know who I am? My name is Linden.”

Mr Reeds said it was the Crown’s case McHale then started the violence by hitting Mr Wilson. Henry Smith stepped in to defend his friend and hit McHale a hard blow to the side of his head, breaking two bones in his hand in the process.

They were fighting in the road before a third defendant, Jack Alexander, appeared and shouted apparently to stop the fight and that allowed everyone to get up.

Mr Reeds told the jury Henry Smith thought that was the end, but when his friend told the trio to leave, Alexander turned aggressive. He took his hoodie off and shouted “Let’s have it then.”

Alexander punched Sam Wilson, who went down to the ground, before Alexander turned his attention to Henry Smith, who managed to run away and phoned the police.

Meanwhile, a taxi driver going north also dialled 999 when he saw a man curled up on the ground trying to protect himself. He reported three or four men kicking him on the ground.

Two men in a car behind him also saw what was happening and decided to turn round at the roundabout, but as they did that another taxi, driven by Dennis Ellerby, was ahead of them going south back down Haxby Road.

The three defendants had by then left Mr Wilson unconscious in the road and cycled off. Mr Ellerby, unaware of what had happened, “did not realise what was in front of him was a person until he was too close to stop.”

Mr Reeds said he was not speeding and was paying proper attention to the road.

“Even though he braked, he was unable to avoid running over Sam Wilson because of the position in which he had been left as a result of the attack by these defendants.”

A post-mortem examination later showed Mr Wilson died from an “unsurvivable fractured skull.”

McHale, 20 of Fifth Avenue, Tang Hall, Linden Lee Smith, 20, of Kirkham Avenue, Bell Farm and Jack David Alexander, 21, of Fox Covert, Huntington, York, each deny the manslaughter of Mr Wilson. They also deny a second charge of assaulting Henry Smith, causing him actual bodily harm.

Mr Wilson had earlier that night been at a party to celebrate the 60th birthday of Henry Smith’s father at Huntington Working Men’s Club.

They then went to the Flag and Whistle, before deciding to go to the Flares nightclub.

They ordered a taxi, but it was not big enough for the whole group and as it had been York Races that day, there was a wait for another, so the two young men decided to walk to the club and let other friends go in the first taxi.

The jury was told that after the incident which left Mr Wilson fatally injured, the three defendants had gone to a house party in New Earswick, where Alexander allegedly claimed “I haven’t hit anyone, it all happened so fast, he fell into the road.”

He was arrested from that house, but at that time it was not known the other two were involved and they were arrested later. Mr Reeds said the prosecution would say each tried to minimise their involvement.

He told the jury each defendant was responsible in law for the actions of others, under the rules of joint enterprise.

The trial continues.