THE manager of an Essex fast food shop was made to feel “like an idiot” by a car full of teenagers who drove off without paying for their food, a court has heard.

Elliot Furniss

THE manager of an Essex fast food shop was made to feel “like an idiot” by a car full of teenagers who drove off without paying for their food, a court has heard.

Just minutes later three teenage passengers in the car, Danny Archer, Richard Warren and Chris Jolley, all aged 15, were killed in a crash.

Sakir Olgun, 27, told a jury at Chelmsford Crown Court that he had followed the Ford Escort, driven by Christopher Kibble, 18, from Sible Hedingham, in order to get the registration number to pass on to police.

Olgun, who runs the Halstead Fast Food outlet, said he had agreed to meet the teenagers at a swimming pool car park in Halstead at about 1am on Sunday May 6 last year to hand over food they had ordered.

Speaking through an interpreter, he said: “After I got there somebody from the Escort came out and came towards my car. He asked me whether I was coming from Halstead Fast Food and asked me how much the order came to.

“I told him it would have been £17 but because they had ordered it would be £14 - he said 'yeah, yeah' so I said 'if you just give me £10 that will do'.”

He said that after handing over the food the teenager then got back into the Escort and somebody swore at him before the group drove off without paying.

Olgun said: “I felt like an idiot - not only did I prepare their food, I delivered it to them and tried to give as much discount as I can, but they swore at me and drove off.”

Giving evidence on the stand for the first time, Olgun said he got in to his Volkswagen Bora and left the car park by a different exit but quickly ended up behind the Escort, pursuing it with the intention of getting its details to give to police.

He said he watched the car “swerve” across the road, coming close on several occasions to crossing the central white lines.

The court had previously heard that as the two cars drove along the winding country road Olgun's Bora hit the back of the Escort and tried to overtake on the wrong side of the road.

Kibble's car mounted a grass verge and collided with a tree, flinging the three young passengers to their deaths. Mr Olgun's car spun out of control for 200 feet (70 metres), ending up in a ditch.

The court has heard that the boys had been on a fishing trip at a nearby lake when they got hungry and ordered a takeaway.

The accident happened as the cars travelled along the A131 Sudbury Road and the court has heard from police who examined the vehicles that they had both been travelling at “substantial speeds”.

Olgun and Kibble have both pleaded not guilty to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

The trial continues.