A SPECIALIST investigator has said a pedestrian could not have landed on the bonnet of a truck which was allegedly driven at him by former funfair boss Henry Hill.

Hill, whose family firm runs fairground attractions in the region, is accused of driving into a group of men after his son, Kurt, was involved in an fight outside the Farmers Arms pub in Radcliffe Road, Darcy Lever, on May 7 last year.

The 51-year-old, of Hills Showman Park in Morris Street, has pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving, one count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and five counts of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent.

Defence witness John Sutcliffe, a retired police officer who works as a forensic investigator for GBB, examined the truck in August — 15 months after the incident.

He dismissed claims from alleged victim Christopher Boothwell, who said he landed on the truck's bonnet when he was hit.

Mr Sutcliffe said: “From my experience it's not possible for a pedestrian to come into contact with the bonnet on a vehicle of that size. If it was at the side it would be a glancing impact and they would go on to the corner.”

Hill claims his car was surrounded by the group, who then attacked it.

Mr Sutcliffe said the vehicle, which weighs 18,000kg, had damage to a door but it was not known whether this happened before or during the incident, Bolton Crown Court heard yesterday.

Some witnesses claim the truck was travelling towards the group at up to 30mph Mr Sutcliffe said: “The only obvious damage was the front metal chrome bumper bar.

“At 20mph you would expect there to be damage and there isn't. At 15mph I would expect there to be damage.”

Michael Johnson, defending, said the evidence in the case was “not right”.

He added: “There was no identification evidence at all against Mr Hill. There was no way at all the police could have linked the incident to him.”

Hill handed himself in to police and had no intention of hurting anyone, the court heard. He was said to be “scared to death”.

The case continues.