A driver who mowed down a father and daughter in a horror crash has claimed he fled the scene not knowing he struck anybody.

Nitesh Bissendary also stated he refused a drugs test following the Ramsgate crash - which seriously injured two others - because he has a needle phobia.

He is accused of being high on cocaine when his black Alfa Romeo mounted the pavement in Leopold Street, killing Noga Sella, 37, and her 81-year-old dad, Yoram Hirshfeld.

But Bissendary insisted at Canterbury Crown Court today he was sober, and “just panicked” after unknowingly crashing into the family from behind.

Giving evidence today, the 31-year-old claimed his faulty clutch pedal “fell to the floor”, after turning onto the route.

He demonstrated in court how he attempted to pull the pedal up with his left hand as the car was still moving, when it veered “to the left and I didn’t notice”.

Bissendary stressed he fled the scene only “because I was panicking”.

“As I leaned down I was looking straight ahead, I thought the car was going straight ahead, I can’t explain what happened,” he told jurors.

“It was an accident, the car went to the left and I didn’t notice it.”

“What did you do straight after the crash?” his barrister, Surinder Singh Gohlan, asked.

“I looked to my left, I looked straight and I looked to my right," he answered.

"I didn’t see anyone so I jumped out of the car because I was panicking.”

“Did you appreciate contact was made with anyone?” Mr Gohlan asked.

“No,” Bissendary replied.

Asked why he refused to give blood as part of a drug test following his arrest, Bissendary said he experiences “a needle phobia”.

He told jurors he snorted half-a-gram of cocaine the night before the crash - having used the substance for 12 years - but not on the same day.

Bissendary said he does not believe the stimulant hampers driving ability, adding he thought it lasted in the bloodstream for just three hours.

The tragedy unfolded outside a multi-storey car park at about 9.30pm on August 10, when the five victims - who were visiting from Cambridge - returned to their hotel following a meal.

Emergency services discovered Ms Sella's body underneath the abandoned car.

She was pronounced dead at the scene, having suffered multiple injuries and features of “traumatic asphyxia”.

Mr Hirshfeld suffered a cardiac arrest inside an ambulance and was pronounced dead at 11.40pm.

The crash also left Ms Sella's husband Omer, 40, with a lacerated spleen and five-year-old daughter with a life-threatening head injury.

The couple's eight-year-old son suffered shock and minor injuries.

Previously, jurors were told Bissendary fled on foot and phoned his parents who picked him up in their Mercedes moments afterwards, with the trio soon returning to the crash site.

Bissendary argued they only came back after seeing the emergency services arrive.

Last week, it was alleged the driver was drug dealing at the time of the crash.

Opening the case, prosecutor Nina Ellin said Bissendary fled following impact, then returned to his wrecked car to retrieve cocaine, as Ms Sella lay trapped underneath.

Yet Bissendary denies dangerous driving and taking cocaine, arguing he crashed following a “momentary lapse in concentration to resolve a clutch issue”.

He also claimed he returned to his smashed-up vehicle to kill the ignition, and was unaware of the four injured people around him.

Bissendary, of Highlands Glade in Manston, previously pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by careless driving, but denies more serious charges of causing death by dangerous driving.

He also denies two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

However, he has admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm, failing to provide a sample for analysis and possession with intent to supply cocaine, a Class A drug.

The trial continues.