Three 15-year-old boys were killed in a car crash after ordering £14 worth of takeaway kebabs and then “doing a runner”, a court was told yesterday.

A staff member at the kebab shop gave chase in a Volkswagen Bora when the youths left in a Ford Escort, driven by a friend, without paying for their food.

The Escort then hit a tree, causing it to “almost split in two” and throwing the three teenage passengers from the car to their deaths.

The Escort driver, Christopher Kibble, 18, of Sible Hedingham, Essex, and the Volkswagen driver, Sakir Olgun, 27, from Tottenham, North London, both deny three counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

Chelmsford Crown Court was told that Mr Kibble and his friends, Christopher Jolley, of Little Maplestead, Essex, Danny Archer, of Sible Hedingham, and Richard Warren, of Halstead, Essex, had ordered the food after night-fishing with other youths in Halstead in May last year. Mr Kibble, who was 17 at the time of the incident, had passed his driving test only a week before the crash.

Mr Olgun, who ran the local takeaway, delivered the food to Mr Kibble and his three friends as they sat in their car in the car park, the court was told. Christopher Paxton, for the prosecution, said that Mr Kibble then drove off, encouraged by someone in the car to “do a runner”. Mr Olgun then gave chase.

Both drivers were said to be travelling at “substantial speed” just before the crash. The chase took place on a dark country lane, with the Bora shunting the back of the Escort and trying to overtake on the wrong side of the road.

The court was told that Mr Olgun had fled to London after the crash, but gave himself up to police later, saying that he had panicked. He told police that one of the boys had racially abused him before driving away. Mr Olgun said that he had followed the Escort to get the registration number of the car.

Mr Kibble, whose blood sample after the crash was clear of drugs and alcohol, told police after the incident that he was not aware of a plan to not pay for the food. He said that he was driving sensibly before being rammed from behind and forced off the road.

Police who examined the wreckage said that Mr Olgun's numberplate had paint on it matching Mr Kibble's burgundy Escort. However, they decided that the impact was not enough to have forced the vehicle off the road.

The trial continues.

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