A COWARDLY motorist who claimed he did not own the car that smashed into another driver at 70mph in Barrow was caught on CCTV filling it up with petrol just 10 minutes before the crash.

Callum Jake Wharton left dad-of-two Ray Hayes with a broken arm and needing a knee operation after crashing into his car at around 70mph in Friars Lane in Barrow on June 13 of last year.

While Mr Hayes' mangled Honda CR-V lay on its side, Wharton climbed out of his Ford Focus ran off, leaving Mr Hayes trapped inside.

"A few hours later the defendant attended Barrow police station and told officers he had bought the Ford Focus the day before," prosecutor Miss Mercedeh Jabbari told Preston Crown Court yesterday.

"He said he crashed it at Salthouse Mills the night before; whilst he was there he was seen by two lads who came over and offered to buy the car. He sold it to them for £50."

Meanwhile, police continued their investigation and obtained a crucial piece of evidence which proved Wharton was lying - CCTV footage from the Shell petrol station in Abbey Road which showed him getting out of the driver's seat of the Focus and filling it up with petrol. The footage was recorded just 10 minutes before the crash in Friars Lane.

When he appeared at Preston Crown Court last month, Wharton pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.

The court yesterday heard Wharton has 12 previous convictions, including driving while disqualified and driving without insurance - offences which took place a month after the Friars Lane crash and saw Wharton locked up for 16 weeks.

Defence barrister Miss Colette Renton said Wharton accepted his actions were "cowardly".

"He ran away because he was thought he would be in big trouble, he was very upset with himself thinking he had ruined his life," Miss Renton said.

"Like a rabbit in the headlights he was backed into a corner. He feels very bad towards the victim and would like to apologise to him."

Miss Renton told the court that 21-year-old Wharton had recently taken sole charge of his four-year-old son.

The child's mother, who also has a nine-month-old baby with another man, had told Wharton she could not cope with the boy, who is undergoing assessment for autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

"If he goes to prison, social services would have no other option but to take his son into care," Miss Renton said.

Wharton was set to be sentenced yesterday but the judge, Simon Newell, reserved sentencing until social services decide if Wharton can have permanent custody of his son.

"You know you are walking on a tight-rope," the judge warned Wharton, adding that perverting the course of justice usually results in a jail term of between nine and 15 months.

After yesterday's hearing, Mr Hayes' son Dan, who was one of the first on the scene of the crash, said: "Callum Wharton left my dad for dead. He's asking the court to take into account the future of his son, but he had absolutely no consideration for the future we could have faced without our dad."

Wharton, of Greengate Street, Barrow, will return to Preston Crown Court on March 13 for sentencing.