CAR VICTIM SAW DRIVER WAS A PAL; Girl clung on to bonnet.

Byline: By Gordon Mcllwraith

A TEENAGER left clinging to a car bonnet after being hit recognised the driver as a friend, a court heard yesterday.

As Karli McLauchlan stared, terrified, through the windscreen, she saw Robert Lochhead at the wheel.

He accelerated, Karli was thrown on to the road and Lochhead ran over her.

The 16-year-old needed surgery for serious pelvic injuries and she spent six weeks in hospital.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard Lochhead, who was also 16 at the time, had been drinking before he helped himself to the keys of his aunt's car.

He struck Karli on the hip as she crossed Balunie Drive in Dundee and she was thrown on to the car. She managed to grab on to a groove on the bonnet but Lochhead speeded up.

Niall McCluskey, prosecuting, said: "She was carried on the bonnet for approximately 20 to 30 metres and during this time she looked in the car and recognised the driver."

After Karli was thrown off and run over, Lochhead, now 17, continued driving for about 10 metres before stalling the car.

He claimed that after he hit Karli the first time, he panicked and meant to slam on the brakes but hit the accelerator instead.

Lochhead, of Dundee, was just over the drink driving limit. He admitted drink-driving, dangerous driving and having no insurance or licence.

Mr McCluskey described Karli's ordeal as "a significant traumatic episode both f rom the physical and psychological point of view".

Ashley Edwards, defending, said Lochhead was horrified at what he had put Karli through last April.

She added: "He also appreciates that the outcome of what he did that night could have been much worse."

Lord Macphail deferred sentence until next month.

CAPTION(S):

CALLOUS: Lochhead