A DEPUTY headmaster was killed and his wife badly injured when a car being driven at a "grossly excessive speed" left the road and ran into them, a court was told yesterday.

 Gerry Gormley, 51, of St Peter's Middle School, Cramlington, Northumberland, died instantly when the teenage car driver lost control. His wife, Anne-Marie, sustained a broken wrist, broken ribs and a crushed spleen which had to be removed. The couple were walking home after visiting a local pub at Whitley Bay, Tyneside, last July 14, Newcastle Crown Court was told.

 Andrew Duguid, 19, was driving with his girlfriend when he approached two bends in the road. "He braked so that his wheels locked and he skidded across the road,' said Euan Duff, prosecuting. 

Duguid, of Seaton Delaval, near Newcastle, denies causing death by dangerous driving. He told police he had swerved to avoid a bus and did not accept that he had been driving at an excessive speed. 

The hearing continues.