A MAN hit by two cars as he lay motionless in the road had been knocked out by someone else, a court was told.

Jurors heard that Kieran Hobbs was initially arrested on suspicion of murder following the death of Sagar Bhatti, 23, who was killed in a road accident at Woodside Avenue, Eastleigh.

Hobbs, 31, is standing trial accused of manslaughter.

John Price QC, prosecuting, referred to a statement given by a woman who said she saw Mr Bhatti lying in the road in the early hours of March 10 2019.

She said she asked Hobbs what had happened and he replied: "I knocked him out", Salisbury Crown Court was told.

One of the vehicles that accidentally struck Mr Bhatti was being driven by Terrence Page.

Mr Price said: "Mr Page was suddenly aware of something ahead of him on the surface of the road. He had no opportunity to avoid it."

Mr Page and the other driver, James Vale, stopped immediately and ran back to Mr Bhatti.

Mr Price said: "He was gravelly injured. Paramedics were quickly upon the scene but sadly nothing could be done for him."

The prosecutor added that Mr Bhatti had made no attempt to get out of the way of the approaching car.

"Who or what was the cause if him being in the road in an unresponsive state?" he asked.

"Mr Hobbs told someone he was responsible for him being in that state. It's upon that basis that he is charged with the manslaughter of Sagar Bhatti."

Mr Price said the defendant, who was initially arrested on suspicion of murder, denied doing anything that resulted in Mr Bhatti lying in the road and claimed not to have been present.

But he told the jury: "Mr Hobbs was right there when the collision occurred.

"It was only after the collision that he hastened to leave to put distance between himself and where Sagar Bhatti lay in the road, mortally injured."

Mr Price said Mr Bhatti and some of his friends had spent the evening of March 9 visiting several pubs in Eastleigh, including The Station.

After leaving The Station Mr Bhatti and other four other people, including Hobbs, went to a "man cave" shed in the garden of a house at Browsholme Close, Eastleigh, the court heard.

Mr Price said Browsholme Close was just yards from where the road accident occurred at around 5.30am on March 10.

Hobbs, 31, denies manslaughter. The trial is expected to last up to three weeks.