A TEENAGE car passenger died after a head-on crash which happened as the driver was trying to overtake, a crown court jury heard.

Former Brayton High School pupil Michelle Atkinson, 18, of Camblesforth, was on her way to a pub karaoke night when she was killed on the A19 near Burn last April.

She was a front-seat passenger in the car driven by Christopher Fithian-Franks, 26, of Kent Road, Selby, who appeared at Leeds Crown Court yesterday accused of causing her death by dangerous driving. He denies the charge.

Michelle's boyfriend, Shane Atkinson, who was in the back of the red Vauxhall Cavalier, crawled back into the wrecked car to hold her hand until the emergency services arrived.

Colin Burn, prosecuting, said Michelle and Shane, along with a friend, Howard Kirkman, and the defendant, were heading south along the A19 to go to a karaoke night at the Royal Oak pub in Hirst Courtney.

The C-registered Cavalier collided head-on with a VW Passat taxi travelling in the opposite direction near a bend just south of Burn.

Taxi driver Shirley Whittles, of Whitley, near Selby, told the jury she was approaching Burn on the A19 when she saw four headlights.

She said: "I couldn't understand why and then I realised there was a car on my side of the road.

"I shouted 'Oh My God!' and a few seconds later the collision occurred. I tried to move to the right but there was another car coming towards me and I had nowhere to go."

Jonathan Marsh, of Whitley, a passenger in the taxi, said in a written statement: "I saw a set of car lights on our side of the road, directly in front of us and coming towards us.

"It was about six to eight car lengths away and a couple of seconds later we collided."

Simon Whalley, from Whitley, who was also in the taxi, said in a written statement that he suddenly saw a set of headlights in "our lane", and it was obvious that a vehicle had pulled out to overtake.

Mr Burn said Fithian-Franks was trying to overtake a Fiat Punto when the crash happened. The Punto driver thought the defendant's car would move back in, but that did not happen.

Fithian-Franks told police he could not remember anything about the accident.

The trial continues.

PICTURE: The crash scene on the A19 near Burn