Road death crash accused says he was 'showing off'

Philip Truong, 22, is on trial at the High Court in Edinburgh accused of racing and causing the death of two 18-year-olds.

It is alleged that Truong raced with Zak Chan and that, as a result, Mr Chan lost control of his car and crashed into a tree, killing him and his girlfriend, Emily Chan.

Truong admitted he had been driving above the 40mph speed limit and thought he was doing between 40mph and 50mph.

Defence advocate Alastair Brown asked Truong why he was driving above the speed limit.

He replied: "I chose to because it was a large road and there were not many cars."

Truong also admitted overtaking two cars and said he did it to show off to Mr Chan.

"I was being young and stupid," he said.

Dr Brown asked Truong if he had been racing with Mr Chan or engaging in competitive or aggressive driving and Truong replied "no".

The court heard a group including Truong, Mr Chan and Miss Chan had been out for a family meal and had left in separate cars to go to Truong's house.

Truong told the court he first found out about the accident when no-one turned up and he phoned his friend, who said there was a crash, before he drove back to the scene.

Dr Brown asked how Truong felt about that night and he replied: "I regret everything I did that night."

The trial earlier heard from Gary Young, 46, who said the weather on the night of the crash had been bad and there had been a thunderstorm. He said he had been driving when he came across two cars coming in his direction side by side.

He said: "They were going much faster than I would normally experience. I got this intuitive feeling 'I am going to be hit'. I started to break and the car coming towards me started to lose control."

Mr Young added there had been a loud bang as his car was hit by one of the vehicles. He said he got out of his car and turned to see the other car was in a ditch against trees.

Truong, of Southhouse Close, Edinburgh, denies causing the deaths of Mr Chan and Miss Chan by driving dangerously at Comiston Road and Frogston Road West on July 21, 2009.

It is alleged that he drove at excessive speed, failed to maintain a safe breaking distance between his car and Mr Chan, overtook at excessive speed, raced with Mr Chan and lost control and crashed with the car being driven by Gary Young.

The trial in front of Judge Lord Bracadale continues.