A homeless man was struck by a car and killed as he lay in the road drunk, a jury has heard.

It's alleged that the driver, Mendall Outerbridge, had also been drinking and was speeding on the wrong side of the road when he hit 22-year-old Raymond Curtis.

Outerbridge, 25, admits being in a collision that injured Mr. Curtis, and failing to report it. He also admits having no valid driving licence, vehicle licence and insurance at the time.

He denies causing death by dangerous driving. However, opening the case against him at Supreme Court yesterday, prosecutor Robert Welling told the jury Outerbridge's driving was dangerous, and the death was his fault.

Mr. Welling said the collision took place between 3.38 a.m and 3.53 a.m on September 6, 2008 on Malabar Road, Sandys. Outerbridge was driving home to Dockyard from a night out drinking at bars in Somerset and Hamilton. Mr. Curtis, who lived in a derelict building in Dockyard, was also on his way home from a night out. He was drunk when he left Woody's bar in Somerset around 12.30 a.m, saying he was going on to the boat club.

Mr. Welling told the jury the collision occurred on a blind right-hand bend near the sea cadets building, on a dark stretch of road. He explained there were no eyewitnesses, so the jury would have to pay careful attention to conclusions they will hear from a collision scene expert.

"You are going to hear evidence that the deceased died because the defendant was driving too fast. He was driving considerably faster than 50 kilometres per hour (KPH)," he said. "At that time he was driving on the wrong side of the road."

Mr. Curtis was found by passers-by lying face down across the road, on the right hand side if looking towards Dockyard.

When his body was examined, it was discovered he had alcohol in his system to the point where he was almost twice the drink-drive limit plus cannabis.

A post-mortem examination report concluded he died from multiple injuries as a result of a motor vehicle accident.

Debris from Outerbridge's Subaru was allegedly found at the scene.

A breath-test conducted on Outerbridge ten hours after the collision following his arrest at home showed alcohol and cannabis in his system too.

Mr. Welling told the jury they would view footage from a CCTV camera at Butterfield Bank in Somerset Village, that showed Outerbridge's car travelling past at 65 KPH prior to the collision.

This, he said, was "even faster" than the emergency vehicles later filmed on their way to the scene.

Giving evidence yesterday Outerbridge's childhood friend, David Burrows of Sandys, explained he was a passenger in the car that night.

He told the jury he was drunk and slept through most of the journey but remembered Outerbridge saying he thought he may have hit someone.

Prosecutor Mr. Welling also told the jury there was an "unusual feature" in the case that the jury would have to consider very carefully Mr. Curtis was accustomed to getting drunk and falling asleep in strange places. In February 2008, Police found him lying drunk on the side of the road by Mangrove Bay, he explained.

Mr. Burrows, who knew Mr. Curtis from Sandys, told the jury he once found him drunk and asleep in a dumpster.

On other occasions he found him in a similar state on the rocks on the shoreline, and outdoors at Snorkel Park after a party.

He said of Mr. Curtis: "He's a cool guy. He's quiet, to himself. He didn't bother nobody. Bless him too, with respect, but he was drinking. He would drink a lot."

The jury also heard from forensic pathologist Michael Pollanen, who said Mr. Curtis suffered injuries consistent with being struck and dragged by a vehicle while lying in the road.

The case continues.