One Pershore man was killed and two others were seriously injured in a head-on crash near Worcester after a Land Rover driver tried to overtake a lorry, a jury heard.

Katherine Dawkes collided with a Ford Capri coming towards her on the A4538 between Crowle and the Spetchley island.

Capri rear seat passenger Timothy Hill, aged 26, of Cherry Orchard, Pershore, died instantly after he was flung forward by the impact.

Front passenger Dean Andrews, also from Pershore, was so badly hurt that he remains locked in a vegetative state, prosecutor Richard Atkins told Worcester Crown Court.

And car driver Peter Prosser, aged 27, of Hatfield Bank, Norton, near Worcester, had to be cut from the vehicle after its roof was removed by firemen.

Dawkes, aged 36, of Moor Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, denies causing Mr Hill's death by dangerous driving on April 21 last year.

She tried to overtake the lorry and its trailer around 10.15pm as she drove to her mother's home in Stow-on-the-Wold.

Dawkes, a drug counsellor based in Banbury, pulled past the lorry which was travelling at 46mph towards Pershore.

Her Land Rover Discovery was adjacent to the lorry when she realised she was not going to make it and tried in vain to get to the opposite kerb before the collision.

Her Land Rover Discovery reared up onto the Capri and she looked out from her windscreen into the car.

She said:"I could see how serious it was," After trying to help the injured she said she sat down and prayed for them.

She told police in an interview: "I didn't think it was safe but I thought it might be possible."

The prosecutor told the jury: "What she did was to take a terrible gamble with the lives of other people.

"She lost that gamble."

Dawkes was due to stay at her mother's home to be close to her work.

"She had only driven along the road four times in the dark.

Mr Prosser, a mechanic, was travelling to his father's garage in Farrier Street, Worcester, with his friends when he saw the lorry driver dip his headlights.

Still on crutches, he told the jury: "A car pulled out from behind it.

"I braked but the car ended up on mine.

"I heard the engine start up and it reversed back. I was unable to get out."

l The trial continues.