By Ezra Holt and Heather McNeill
A Perth man has gone on trial over the fatal hit-and-run of an elderly man who was riding an e-bike on the Mitchell Freeway in Kingsley in 2022.
David Kirby was killed in an alleged hit-and-run on the Mitchell Freeway.
Costantino Mastrolembo, 47, is charged with failing to stop and render assistance after striking David Kirby, 86, with his Mitsubishi ASX while on the way to his work at Farmer Jacks in Subiaco at around 4.30am on October 9.
Mastrolembo claims he did not stop because he thought he had hit a kangaroo.
During the first day of his Perth District Court trial on Wednesday, state prosecutor Stuart Packham alleged that was a lie.
It’s alleged Kirby was struck from behind while riding his bike on the freeway, which is prohibited.
He was propelled into Mastrolembo’s windscreen and died instantly.
Kirby’s body was discovered on the side of the road by a security patrol car around 10 minutes later.
Later that day, Mastrolembo called his boss to report he had hit a kangaroo, which had damaged his work-issued car.
While completing an incident report the following day, he wrote he was travelling at 68km/h.
“I was driving to work and a kangaroo jumped in front of my car from the bushes,” he said.
However, the listed location of the crash was allegedly 16 kilometres from the incident. He also incorrectly reported it occurred 22 minutes before the actual crash.
His defence lawyer Jonathan Davies said his client had no prior traffic convictions, and that the incident occurred in “a flash”, with Kirby likely not wearing a helmet.
He claimed after the collision to the left-hand-side of his car, Mastrolembo looked in his rearview mirror, but could not see anything.
“This is not a case on the nature of his driving, it’s about the nature of the duty once the incident has occurred,” Davies said.
“He formed the belief that what he hit was a kangaroo, it was a belief that was honestly formed by him and held.”
The trial continues.
with 9 News Perth