A Shropshire teenager was killed when the mast of a sailing dinghy pierced the windscreen of the car she was travelling in like “a lance in a medieval jousting contest”, a court heard today.

Sarah Louise James, 19, of Highley, suffered severe facial injuries in the accident on the B14194, near Bewdley, in June 2008, Hereford Crown Court was told.

She later died at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham.

Mark Tissiman, 48, of Kidderminster Road, Bewdley, who was driving the Range Rover towing the sailing dinghy, denies causing death by dangerous driving.

The court heard he was driving home to Bewdley after a day’s sailing at Chelmarsh Reservoir, near Bridgnorth, when he passed an oncoming Rover saloon car containing the victim and her friend Duncan Smith. The court heard that the mast of the dinghy had worked itself loose from its fastening and collided with the Rover.

Mr Peter Arnold, prosecuting, said the collision was a tragic accident.

“It (the mast) pierced the windscreen like a lance in a medieval jousting contest. It narrowly missed the driver but the victim did not stand a chance,” said Mr Arnold.

“The defendant realised something was wrong, turned his vehicle around and returned to the scene of the collision. He was shocked by what he found,” he added.

Experts later found there were deficiencies in the way the mast had been secured for the journey.

In a written statement Mr Smith said that he and Miss James had been returning from a trip to the cinema and they were heading back to her home in Highley when the accident happened.

The trial continues.