A man at the wheel of a Porsche 911 when it crashed at high speed, killing his passenger, repeatedly told police he was not the driver, a court heard.

Barry Sylvester Holmes, 33, denies causing the death of 21-year-old Richard Whitelock by dangerous driving in July 2006.

A jury at Leeds Crown Court was told yesterday Holmes had pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice by falsely claiming to be the passenger in the Porsche Carrera when he was in fact the driver.

Prosecutor Andrew Dallas said the issue for the jury was the manner of Holmes’s driving when the car crashed on the Drighlington bypass just before 11.15pm on July 19, 2006.

Mr Dallas said the Crown’s case was that the Porsche was doing 103mph in a 60mph zone when it went out of control.

It struck a lamppost and rolled up to three times along the embankment before striking a second lamppost and coming to rest on its roof.

Mr Whitelock, the owner of the Porsche, was trapped in the vehicle. He died in hospital next day of multiple injuries.

Holmes, of Chelker House Farm, Addingham, near Ilkley, suffered only minor injuries.

Mr Dallas said he asked for chewing gum at the accident scene.

He alleged Holmes had drunk up to six pints of lager that night and wanted to screen the smell of drink on his breath. Mr Dallas said Holmes asked a friend to tell the police Mr Whitelock, of River Place, Gargrave, near Skipton, had been driving.

He added: “Do you think that I should do one?” meaning: “Should I run away?” Mr Dallas told the jury.

When police arrived at the crash scene Holmes told them Mr Whitelock had been at the wheel when the Porsche crashed.

He blamed a “phantom vehicle” coming towards them on the bypass that forced him to swerve, the jury heard.

Holmes asked police at the scene for his mobile phone and flip-flops from the wrecked Porsche.

Mr Dallas said Holmes may have been worried that one flip-flop would be found on the driver’s side of the car.

The jury heard that Holmes and two friends had met up in Birstall for a meal at The Pheasant Inn earlier that evening.

At 9pm they went on to The Old Griffin’s Head in Gildersome.

Mr Whitelock arrived in his Porsche to join them at the pub, the court heard.

At 11pm the other men decided to go home, but Holmes and Mr Whitelock planned to go on to Bradford.

Holmes set off in the Porsche with Mr Whitelock in the passenger seat, the court heard.

In front of them on his way home was their friend, Joseph Tangi, in an Aston Martin he had bought as a present for his father.

Another friend, Thomas Robertson, was behind them both in a BMW M3, the court heard. Mr Tangi told police the Porsche “flew past him” on a big roundabout leading to the Drighlington bypass.

Mr Tangi described to police how the Porsche accelerated to more than 100mph in his estimation. He saw the back end appear to bounce in the road before the vehicle lost control, crossed the carriageway and hit a lamppost. Mr Tangi called the emergency services.

Mr Robertson, who was following along the route, told police the Porsche passed the Aston Martin at high speed. “It seemed to be going for it,” he said.

Mr Dallas said Holmes gave “a wholly false account about the accident” to police.

The court heard he also told a nurse at the accident and emergency department where he was treated for minor cuts and bruises and a hand injury, that he was the passenger.

Mr Dallas said police became suspicious and arrested Holmes for causing death by dangerous driving.

In March 2007 he declined to answer questions but “denied steadfastly” that he had been at the wheel.

Mr Dallas said he now accepted he was the driver when the Porsche crashed.

Police vehicle examiner PC Alan Broadbent estimated the Porsche had been going 103mph when it crashed.

Mr Dallas said there were undulations in the road at that point, but PC Broadbent found they had no noticeable effect on a similar Porsche he test-drove at the scene until he went 100mph in the 60mph zone. The trial continues.