An unlicensed van driver who clipped a motorcyclist causing him serious injuries failed to stop at the scene, a court heard.

Curtis Towner, from Medway, was at the wheel of his Citroen Dispatch van when he hit biker Mark Porter in Seven Mile Lane, Maidstone, in May, as he was overtaking another vehicle.

Towner drove on for about 150 yards and pulled over in a layby. He then walked back to the crash site and saw other people had stopped to help Mr Porter, who was lying unconscious in the road.

The rider had suffered leg, pelvic and wrist injuries during the smash, which also wrote-off his bike.

After seeing others assisting Mr Porter, Towner turned round and walked back to his van, before driving away from the scene.

The accident happened on May 31. Towner didn’t report the matter until he walked into a police station five days on from the crash, after talking to a friend about it.

After his details were taken, he left the station and officers later located him in London and he was arrested.

Towner, 35, of Dawes Street, Gillingham, was later charged with failing to stop after an accident and driving without a licence.

He admitted the offences when he appeared before magistrates in Medway on September 20.

Debbie Jones, prosecuting, said: “The motorcyclist was left with serious injuries and he drove away and stopped in a layby along the road and came back on foot and looked at the scene and then returned to his vehicle.

“It was five days later when he went to Maidstone Police Station to report the matter.”

Ms Jones also told the court Towner had an old driving conviction on his record.

Defending himself, Towner told the court he hadn’t realised what he had hit at the time of the collision and had only been travelling at about 20mph when he went to overtake the other vehicle after pulling out of another road.

He said he’d continued driving and stopped at the next convenient place, the layby, and had walked on foot back to the crash site. He realised what had happened and saw that others were attending to Mr Porter.

The builder added: “I was in shock for what seemed like about 10 minutes and then I went to get my phone and it had no energy and then I heard the sirens of the ambulance which turned up.

“I should have reported it and stayed at the scene. I didn’t realise what had caught me.”

Magistrates were told Mr Porter, who has now moved to Merseyside, had spent several weeks in hospital with leg, pelvic and wrist injuries. He had not been interviewed about the crash.

The bench told Towner he knew he didn’t have a licence when he drove the van and fined him £291 for the offence.

He was also fined £437 for failing to stop and was banned from driving for 30 days.

Towner was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £291 and £85 court costs.