By Paul Hooper

A Hernhill teenager died after his new moped was hit from behind on the A229 Thanet Way, it's been claimed.

Schoolboy Thomas Brenchley, 16, had the 49CC bike for just a week before the fatal accident in July last year.

A jury at Canterbury Crown Court heard how minutes before the death crash he had visited a friend and planned a golf game the following day.

Then Thomas joined the road at about 9.45 pm, but his moped was hit from behind by a Volvo, it was claimed.

Thomas, a pupil at Canterbury’s Archbishop’s School, died the following day from head injuries, the court heard.

London Underground worker Gareth Jones, 48, has pleaded not guilty to causing the teenager’s death by driving carelessly.

The court heard Jones, of Hill View Road, Whitstable, told police he thought the moped’s rear lights weren’t working.

The trial continues.