A WOMAN told a court how she screamed and swore as she watched a car that “flew past” her through a red light, hitting a cyclist as he crossed the road.

Jacqueline Holtby was a passenger in her husband’s van when she saw the crash in which 27-year-old Greg Dear died.

Julia Moore, 31, is accused of causing the death of Mr Dear, of Cliff Road, Freemantle, Southampton, after allegedly driving her Fiat Punto through a red light on the morning of October 16, 2008.

Giving evidence at Southampton Crown Court, Mrs Holtby told how her husband had slowed to a stop as the traffic lights on Millbrook Road West, at the junction with Regents Park Road, changed to amber. She saw Mr Dear standing at the central island with his bike.

Mrs Holtby told the court: “This happened within the space of seconds. We were talking, he (her husband) put his handbrake on and I saw a car come past on his side.

“I screamed and swore because you just knew the cyclist was crossing the road.

The car just flew past me and hit the cyclist.

“I’m 100 per cent clear the light was red. I phoned 999. I just knew there was no way that he was going to walk away from an accident like that.”

Mrs Holtby told the court how she was “very aware of people driving like maniacs on that road” having lost a close relative on the same stretch.

Asked by defence barrister Peter Asteris if it was possible the traffic lights had only just turned to amber when Moore drove through, Mrs Holtby said “absolutely not”.

Giving evidence, her husband Richard Holtby recalled the moment he became aware of what was happening after pulling up at the lights.

He told the court: “My wife screamed. I can vaguely remember her saying something like ‘she’s going to hit the bike’. I think there was more but it was all a bit of a blur.

“I looked from her to the direction she was looking and by then I could see the bike and a person being thrown into the air.”

Mr Holtby told the court how he got out of his van and ran to see if he could help the injured cyclist but there were already several people there.

Under cross-examination by Mr Asteris, Mr Holtby admitted it was a possibility that he believed the lights were red as a result of talking to his wife and seeing subsequent media reports about the accident.

Moore, 31, of Rownhams Road, Southampton, denies causing death by dangerous driving.

Proceeding.